Simple | Elegant

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This modern mansion sits proudly on a blasted foundation with its removed rock re-purposed into beautiful retaining walls. The outdoor, in-ground, heated pool is surrounded by a stamped and coloured concrete patio that elegantly matches the interior slate floor tiles. Inside, a 730 square foot curtain wall of glass, engineered to conform to a strict BC Energy Act, is complimented by the client-designed etched glass room divider which mirrors the surrounding landscape.

Despite 18’ ceilings and copious use of glass, thermal efficiencies were achieved with the use of two heat pumps, a heat recovery system, and LED lighting throughout. Even the overhangs are meticulously designed to maximize the lower sunlight in the winter and eliminate the direct sun in the summer.

Fir beams span contiguously from the outside in, and when the eight panel Eclipse© doors fold open, the ultimate indoor/outdoor environment is achieved. From the radiant hydronic heat in the concrete floor, the linear drains installed in the open shower, to the flat panel arbutus veneer that creates wood artistry in the cabinets – no detail was overlooked in this elegant design.

Project Type

Custom Home

Style

Contemporary West Coast / Single Story

Square Footage

4167 (including cistern and mechanical area)

Exterior Features
  • oceanfront
  • 17,000 US gallon built-in concrete cistern
  • in-ground outdoor heated pool
  • stamped and coloured concrete patios
  • butterfly roof with built-in gutter
  • ‘curtain’ window wall system in main living area
  • eclipse ™ folding doors
  • custom flat panel entry unit with bar handle
  • laminated glass windows at entry (these act as ‘lanterns’ at night, and also provide privacy from the entry)
Interior Features
  • entry: custom etched art glass room divider designed by clients
  • ensuite shower: full granite slab shower wall, free standing shower glass, 2 specialty ‘curtain’ drains catch the water on either side of the shower and allow the shower to be completely open
  • kitchen: arbutus veneer flat panel and aluminum/glass cabinetry
  • main living area: mechanized rolling screen for eclipse door, interior timber colonnade
  • other: LED lighting, in-floor radiant hydronic heating, unique air-to-water heating system (air source heat pumps take heat from the air, transfers it through a heat exchanger, and into hydronic tubing located in a concrete slab)
Challenges
  • site had to be blasted in order to keep the house low to the ground (blast material was used to build retaining walls)
  • interior curtain wall (various engineers were engaged; the whole window wall was modelled to confirm that it met the strict new BC Energy Act requirements and to obtain approval from the local building district (this feature is typically a commercial window assembly)
  • split existing house/cottage into 3 parts and move 2 parts to a new location on the property where a portion of it was re-assembled and given new life as a guest cottage