Arbour House

Project Details

Project Description

This project was selected as an Honor winner in the 2024 Residential Architect Design Awards, Custom Home/More than 3,000 square feet category.

"This one really captured my imagination with its use of light and form. I felt like there were a few other projects that tried to do something with roof form where it felt like it was for the sake of form, and this felt really purposeful and intentional and well tied together in each one of these views.” —Juror Ashley Hereen

Designed for a retired but still active couple, this 6,000-square-foot home overlooking a bay in Victoria, British Columbia, was intentionally planned with the main living quarters spread out over a single accessible floor. But, as the clients also host large family gatherings and have friends over, the decision was made to create a secondary guest suite afforded some amount of privacy. Since the construction site was a steep rocky setting, the architects situated the home up toward the back of the site, allowing them to create a lower level for the garage and guest suite without excavating.

While views of the verdant landscape and water from up here are stunning, the interior also presents a feast for the eyes: The architecture quite literally weaves the site’s surroundings and sub-Mediterranean climate into the interior through an intricate wooden arbor ceiling. The sawtooth-like composition of Western hemlock slats is suspended below a series of operable skylights, producing a dramatic light show as the sun progresses throughout the day.

Aesthetics aside, the home employs several sustainable and passive design strategies such as retractable glass walls that create natural cross ventilation, a photovoltaic array that generates roughly 75 percent of the home’s energy needs, and cisterns that collect and store water for irrigation and emergencies.


PROJECT CREDITS:
Architect: Patkau Architects: John Patkau, Patricia Patkau, David Shone
Project Team: Luke Stern, Marc Holland, Edward Kim, Michael Thorpe, Michelle de Jong, Sebastian Elliot, Nicole Sylvia
Structural Engineer: RJC Structural Engineering
General Contractor: Rannala Freeborn Construction
Landscape Architect:Haven Garden Design, Red Door Landscape Services
Lighting Designer: Margot Richards Lighting

MATERIALS AND SOURCES:
Appliances: Asko
Bathroom Fixtures: Blu Bathworks, Duravit, Dornbracht, Julien
Cabinets: Douglas Grant Cabinets
Ceilings:Western Hemlock
Concrete: Carboncure Concrete
Countertops: Corian
Energy source, including back-up source: Geothermal energy, Electric ground source heat pumps
Exterior Wall Systems:Sto Stucco
Flooring: Scheucher Wood Flooring
Furniture: Inform Bensen Sofa, Joey Stools by Patkau Studio, Maitake Tables by Patkau Studio, Dining Table by Patkau Studio, Eames Aluminum Group Lounge Chair, Hans Wegner CH24 Wishbone Chairs, Label GiGi Lounge Chair, Blu Dot Perch Loungers, Bertoia Side Chairs,
Glass:Guardian Glass - Climaguard
Kitchen fixtures: Wolf Sub-Zero, Thermador, Fisher & Paykel, Miele
Lighting Control Systems: Control4, Flexa Lighting, MP Lighting, RJ Cross Diffusion
Minima Lamps by Patkau Studio (custom design)
Paints and Finishes: Benjamin Moore, Sansin Coatings
Photovoltaics or other Renewables: Canadian Solar
Roofing: Soprema Membrane Roofing
Windows and Doors: Otiima

Photo Credit: James Dow