Rohe Homes Ltd. and its architectural firm partners have created a set of modular multiplex designs specialized for the Metro Vancouver area, aimed at simplifying the development of multigenerational housing.

Named the Multiplex Design Library, it is a collection of triplex and fourplex drawings made for the standard 33-foot by 122-foot Vancouver lot size. The blueprints, made by Vancouver firms Bobo Architecture, Design Architecture Everyday and Tony Osborn Architecture + Design, are based around Rohe’s foldable, prefabricated home construction technology.

The intent is to offer the library to corporate developers, municipalities and citizen developers, Salik Khan, a Rohe co-founder and its chief experience officer, said in an interview with RENX Homes.

Homeowners who want to redevelop their property into a multiplex are a particular target. As many are inexperienced in development, Rohe sees the Multiplex Design Library aiding this group with its fixed process and designs, streamlining the work.

“What we’re trying to replace is essentially the navigation process for people to develop,” Khan said. “We want to democratize the opportunity for people to develop.”

How the multiplex library was built

Rohe is a construction technology company behind a foldable building envelope named Lotus. From its manufacturing site in south Surrey, the company makes the envelopes. Once finished, the envelopes are shipped to their destinations and unfolded, with components like stairwells or the roof bolted on. A building form can be set up in less than a week with Lotus, Khan said.

Around the end of 2025, Rohe began to partner with architectural firms on developing the library, he said. The architects could eliminate hours spent on designing buildings by tapping into the partnership while Rohe could focus on refining Lotus, Khan explained.

Rohe gave digital models of Lotus to the firms and a guide outlining the parameters of the system, the site constraints and layouts.

The company then looked at the designs submitted by the architects and mapped them onto Lotus, with an eye for drawings that would resonate with communities. Rohe also spoke with municipalities and community members on design considerations, Khan said, ensuring the blueprints were informed and validated by the relevant parties.

Homes that fit the community’s needs

Currently, the Multiplex Design Library consists of two fourplex designs with an accessible unit, and one triplex. The fourplexes consist of a duplex in the front of the property and a laneway with an additional unit in the back. The triplex is a single building. All the multiplexes are approximately 4,000 square feet, which would be constructed as a set of foldable units that are linked to another.

One fourplex named Mansard is described as having “bright, split-level layouts” that maximize natural light and space, with “open kitchens, large living areas, and private gardens.”

“It’s really a matter of finding various building forms that fit the community need,” Khan said.

Maximizing the housing per lot is critical, to help address the shortage of missing middle housing in Metro Vancouver.

The residents of the multiplexes could be a nuclear family where young parents live in the bigger units to raise their children while the grandparents reside in the laneway, Khan said. Another example he provided was a senior in one unit who rents out the rest of the housing on their property.

Prices for the multiplexes are expected to be between $400 to $500 per square foot, with the most affordable option starting from $360 per square foot. At such a cost, the library offers approximately 15 per cent in savings compared to conventional construction, Khan said.

The same principle applies to the project schedule; Khan estimates using the designs in the library translates to a 20 per cent reduction in the time to build.

Rohe wants the library in Toronto, Seattle

Specialized for Metro Vancouver today, Rohe is looking to bring the idea behind the partnership to other cities.

The company is talking to architectural firms in cities such as Toronto and Seattle, Khan said. There are neighbouring municipalities in the Vancouver region that also want to learn more about the library, he continued.

Rohe also would like more partners to build the design library and “open-minded developers” interested in the modular construction sector, Khan added.