Explorations of this steeply sloped, wooded site overlooking a small private stone beach in Center Bay suggested a switchback organization of spaces where the slope has been extended and combined with the introduction of a meandering path that traverses the site. This pathway purposefully links together the architecture of internal rooms and outdoor spaces with discoveries of the site’s varied landscape.
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One third of the space within the house, made up of guest rooms, an office and the main entrance, is located at the lower level adjacent to the base of a large rock embankment. The overhanging mass of the building and its canted wall define the main entrance and create a covered space for unpacking and packing – a familiar cabin ritual. A vertical strip of glazing at the entry and lower stair landing captures the full height of a lone arbutus tree.
Family spaces are on the upper level. An internal stair rises up alongside a central concrete wall that extends the rock embankment into the house’s internal landscape. This wall supports cantilevered roof rafters which form a ridge centre over the stair hall. Windows and sliding doors in the family areas upstairs open for ventilation and frame elements of the natural surrounds: the expansive southwest water views, the foliage of an arbutus tree, the steep rock bluff adjacent to a terrace. The switchback path continues to the children’s bedrooms with intimate views of the rocky hillside, and arrives finally at the master bedroom, where a cantilevered glazed end wall frames the landscape of a moss and wildflower-covered clearing.
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