Nanoose Residence

Location Nanoose Bay, BC Client Withheld Size 2,161 sf Status Under Construction

Summary

The program and site of this home for a couple retiring to Vancouver Island required the design to be separated into two stacked volumes: a lower volume containing service and secondary spaces and an upper volume housing the main living spaces. Topography, access and setbacks pushed the home’s footprint to the eastern edge of the constrained and wooded site. The upper volume was then cranked to create covered spaces below and redirect the view from the living space through an opening in the trees towards the Pacific Ocean beyond.

The lower volume is clad in dark cementitious concrete panels, while the upper volume floats above, supported by the light steel posts. This upper volume is clad in a lighter, locally sourced cedar which dissolves into a guardrail and screen at its edges to accentuate its lightness and create further contrast with the darker mass below. The design works to simplify and distill the project into a minimalist expression of these two volumes.

The upper floor plan is organized with private functions to the north, private rooms to the south, and an entry from the floor below located in between. An interesting client request was the inclusion of a room containing their book collection that could also be used as an intimate space for entertaining guests. This evolved into the creation of the “LiBARy,” located at the centre of the upper floor, which can be used for reading, lounging, drinking, or any combination thereof. It is purposefully separated from the main living space, which is an open plan whose primary curving volume is as legible from the interior as the exterior.

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