This house looks like one big architectural action stunt. And that’s not far from what architect Pamela Úbeda of Coast + Beam Architecture was trying to achieve.
With a remarkably steep grade and setbacks that would place a new build far from the water’s edge, Úbeda had to get creative to form a home that would feel like a luxury lakeside property.
“A conventional approach is to use stepped floors. These offset rectangles leave you with several decks or rooftop patios, but you get further away from the lake and that’s not a great waterside experience,” she says. “We flipped that.”
Literally.
The home is, in effect, bolted to the edge of a rock face. Its highest level hangs 25 feet over the lake, while its lower level is buried back deep into bedrock, judiciously blasted out while navigating restrictive environmental and seismic codes. The build was so complex the team had to work in reverse to complete the structure, starting with the landscaping and building backwards.
To build perspective, the property experiences 20 metres of elevation change from the parking area to the water. That’s a 70-foot drop. While an old abandoned cabin on the lot had been nestled down at the water’s edge since the 1930s, modern setbacks meant any new build would have to be placed squarely on the cliff face.
The result is two complete levels of open-concept space, with the in-ground “bunkie” level made especially for guests and recreation, and the main level an artistic reflection of single-floor living, which was the primary wish-list item for this couple.
