phillip van horn design - salt spring island

High-bank southwest-facing ocean-front Salt Spring house.

The high bank southwest-facing oceanfront site along Ganges Harbour offers good solar exposure for passive gain, mature arbutus and douglas firs for shading and privacy and breezes that move across the harbour providing welcome respite from strong summer sun.

Designed for a professional couple and their family, glulam timber framing and expanses of tall southwest-facing glazing are countered by low north-side concrete walls which allow the structure to nestle into a five-foot earth berm. Main spaces are covered by shed roofs sloping up to welcome the sun, blue sky, views of Ganges Harbour and the 100 Hills beyond. When completed, the main living space will open wide to the water side terrace establishing a seamless connection between interior and exterior.

Long-established plantings have been moved and healed in for the duration of the construction period to be reintroduced along the berm which shelters the north side circulation garden gallery.

The rough cardboard study model shown here was produced prior to section and elevation drawings and proved to be a useful tool in the preliminary design phase of this project.