- Location: Vancouver Island BC
- Lot Area: 7,713 s.f.
- Square Footage: 4,468 s.f.
Located opposite a popular stretch of waterfront park in Victoria, the home developed out of three principal requests from the Clients. The home should be designed to include an indoor lap pool, which would be used daily; the views of the Salish Sea and Olympic mountains should be maximized; and ceiling height and volume of space should be generous.
The lap pool, spa and steam room were incorporated into the main floor layout, with continuous glazing separating them from the main living spaces. In this way the pool is not just an amenity but a key contributor to the character of the home.
Opportunities to maximize direct and indirect visual connections to the views were examined during the homes design development. The introduction of an interior window to the bedroom for example, captures an additional diagonal sight-line through the living room along the coastline to the West. The corridors on the upper floor and rear rooftop garden were both designed to provide further opportunities to connect to distant viewpoints.
Generous glazing on the front facade, including 18ft high glass sliding doors, fully open the main living space to the front patio and garden. In contrast, the side walls are carefully extended to shield the views to the neighbouring homes. Clerestory windows provide a panoramic connection to the continually changing skies over Victoria.
While local building height regulations did not allow each floor to have generous ceilings on their own, the introduction of a double height core through the centre of the home provided the desired volume. The home is connected front to back through the main living spaces, emphasized by the lap pool and central void. The plan is open from front to back as much as possible, so that the treed rear garden can be enjoyed from the front of the house, and the views through the front of the house can be enjoyed from the rear. The home has a glass elevator which, while planned for accessibility, becomes a feature in the space. The stair and the elevator connect at opposite ends of the bridge on the upper floor.
Lighting design was both important and challenging on this project as much of the lighting is in the double-height space. Lighting was specified to ensure sufficient output would project down to the space below. Layering narrow beam high output recessed LED fixtures in the ceiling with wide beam fixtures lower down and concealed indirect lighting provides the task and ambient lighting for the space. Warm white lighting was selected to enhance the natural tones of the walnut and cedar in the home. The pool playfully reflects the sunlight during the day as well as functioning as a light feature in the evening.
Materials were selected largely for their graphic effect, at first being conceived as light and dark, and then further being developed into a distinct materiality of concrete, walnut, iron grey, stone. Our Clients asked that the house, its context and surrounding landscape, natural space and light should be the focus of attention, and artwork, if any, should be secondary. The home was to take the functional requirements of the programme and to elevate them.
