A Glass and Cedar Cabin Outside Vancouver Sits Lightly on the Land
Sensitive siting and a green roof keep this house in dialogue with its resplendent natural surroundings.
Sensitive siting and a green roof keep this house in dialogue with its resplendent natural surroundings.
Set on the north shore of Bowen Island, located 20 minutes away from Vancouver, architect Steve McFarlane's modern cabin glows like a lantern against the inky blackness of the surrounding forest and water at night. The cabin, named the Bowen Island House, was inspired by the client's simple wish: to live in a home that embodied a focused and intentional relationship with nature.
McFarlane wanted to create opportunities for the client to experience the "intimate moments" with the site, balancing sweeping views of the horizon with a more focused view of the landscape.
Photo: Ema Peter
The clients, a young couple with children and a bustling social life in Vancouver, enlisted McFarlane to build on a remote eight-acre lot nestled on the island’s north shore. The lot features expansive views in all directions: Howe Sound and the picturesque shores of Gambier Island to the north, the Sunshine Coast of Canada’s mainland to the northwest, and the peaks of West Lion and Mt. Garibaldi emerging from the horizon line.
"The views and access to sunshine were really the key considerations that helped us position the home," says the architect. The home is sited as far north as possible to maximize the limited amount of southern light that peeks through the forested bluff behind the build.
Photo: Ema Peter
"It's water, land, mountain, and sky all coalescing into this absolutely stunning view," McFarlane says of the landscape surrounding the lot. "Siting the building in such a way that leveraged the power of that view was our top priority."
From there, it was important to the client that the build sit in harmony with its surroundings. Both the landscape and British Columbia’s history informed the home’s materials palette, which consists of a concrete foundation, stained cedar siding, and local basalt throughout.
"We were interested in this idea of treading lightly on the site. Using a green roof is a logical extension of that. When you introduce a building that supplants a little bit of the forest floor, it's nice to replicate that on the roof as a return gesture to continue to create habitat for birds, animals, and plants, and to help manage the flow of storm water," explains McFarlane.
Photo: Ema Peter
See the full story on Dwell.com: A Glass and Cedar Cabin Outside Vancouver Sits Lightly on the Land
