West Vancouver, BC, Canada
This house is an uphill counterpoint to the downhill cascading terraces of our client’s first house, reaching the edge of the sea. Both houses seem as if born of their rocky sites. The new house was situated to feature a rock outcrop and engage available views from the city to Point Grey, and surrounding natural landscape.
Expansive decks along the south side provide direct outdoor space to all the rooms along the south view side, as well as shading to the full height opening glass walls.
A two-storey glass atrium space acts as a lantern to the north landscaped garden, containing privacy hedges of laurel and evergreen magnolias, ground covers, and a grove of birch trees highlighting the vertical entry hall. The hall containing the stairs to the upper and lower levels becomes a window to the north garden, becoming dramatic with night lighting.
The front entry door within the glass enclosed entry hall is a two-storey panel of burnished stainless steel containing the 10’ high front door. The garage door off the entry court is also clad with the same stainless steel panels. The burnished panels have an irregular mottled red to amber colouring which harmonizes with the landscape.
The north entry court defined by the perimeter hedges and cedar fencing is a pattern of concrete and soft landscaped ribbons. The base of the birch trees which announce the glass enclosed entry hall is seeded with flat black stones to contrast the white bark of the trees, which when lit at night are part of the interior.
The south yard features the rock bluff that guards to the road is featured and augmented with trees and shrubs that will provide seasonal colours and is again highlighted at night when the distant views are not as available. The south pedestrian access is composed of concrete and stone ribbons engaging the adjacent landscape.
The new building is a minimalist composition expressed in the structural clarity of concrete, cross laminated timber (CLT) panels and steel columns. The side walls of exposed warm coloured concrete provide privacy to the nearest neighbouring residences east and west. The CLT panels floating over slender steel columns are the floors and roof structures with the underside exposed as the finished ceiling. The 10’ wide panels are spaced marking the structural rhythm and activity areas of the main living level, a subtle pause in the landscape, an experience of connection with the near and the distant.
Architect: Nick Milkovich Architects
Size: 4,700 sf
Completed: 2018