sunshine coast residence

Situated along British Columbia’s beautiful Sunshine Coast, amidst a powerful landscape of rising cliffs, windswept cedars and undulations of oceanic tides, the proposed house is lightly perched between a steep rock face and the Secret Cove, and inlet of the Pacific Ocean. The natural features act as constraints reducing the buildable area of the site to a sliver. This drives the ‘parti’ of the building to take form of a long spine stretched across the site with appended rooms and spaces, revealing or concealing views of the ocean and mountain rock as the site unfolds. Above the central building spine, a long clerestory roof stretches virtually across the entire length of the house and fills the central space with light filtered through the surrounding cedar forest. The corridor flows seamlessly from the entrance porch, through the varied and light-dappled interior spaces, and sinks into the family room spilling onto the deck, overlooking the ocean inlet.
 
Glass and timber elements slip in between the projecting planes of the ground and roof, reflecting a strong horizontality of the surrounding water. A poured-in-place concrete wall anchors the project to the mountain on the east while the remainder of the living spaces dematerialize into large glazed expanses opening to the surrounding the Secret Cove.
 
Key rooms such as the Master Bedroom and Guest Rooms are articulated as cedar boxes anchored by the central spine, strengthening the main theme of the house. The master bedroom floats above the dining room as if suspended in space.
 
Due to the remoteness of the location, the building is designed for pre-fabrication. In-floor radiant will be the sole heating source along with a suspended eyeball wood burning stove in the family room. Cooling is provided through natural ventilation, with operable windows on the ground and clerestory. Energy efficient lighting, appliances and fixtures will be used throughout the house.

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A garage and guest house frame the entrance to the spectacular site and frame views of both the main house and the Secret Cove beyond.