(via) A modern home in Minsk, Belarus has been designed to include a gorgeous, fully-functioning bar in its attic that spills out onto its equally stunning roof. It’s located in the heart of the city, with views inside and out.

Two main features organize the space – first, it is a multifunctional structure in pine boards, which spans across the entire space. It has a bar, a lamp, a shelf and a coat rack. Taken together, it highlights the space as an archetypal attic. Second, it is a soft seating structure occupying an otherwise unusable space found under a low ceiling. The dividing elements “mirror” the sloped ceiling, so the space becomes complete.

Swell design aside, a homeowner opened a bar in his attic and the government was OK with that? Where again is this amazing Minsk that you speak of? In all seriousness, while it’s way too much to ask of Vancouver to allow bars to operate in private homes (attic or not), we do think that licensed establishments in residential neighbourhoods (a la Portland) and accessible rooftops (a la Beirut) should be encouraged here. That this city doesn’t run a surplus of both is an unfortunate symptom of the stifling, overly-protective Mom affliction that has bent Vancouver’s cultural spine since the day it was born (“Just go drink on Granville Street, dear, where I can keep my eye on you…”). While efforts to straighten things out have had some success in recent years (extended patio hours, food carts, reformed liquor laws, etc.), it nevertheless chafes whenever we learn that stuff like this exists elsewhere, especially in places that have known liberty for all of three minutes. Top marks, Minsk.

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