This striking family home in Saanich is a bold celebration of architectural and engineering Innovation.
With its atrium of polished concrete floors, rich walnut millwork and antiqued steel beams, this Saanich home reimagines the elements and traditions of West Coast architecture. And don’t be fooled by its minimalist structure and the simplicity of its materials: the large open spaces and deep overhangs required advanced structural engineering and specialized construction methods.
“It’s about climate, it’s about light, and it’s a very site-specific architecture. Three main elements are the flat rooflines, clerestory windows and skylights to maximize the light, and the materiality — such as timber frame and the use of wood”
While this house contains some departures from conventional West Coast contemporary, including the exposed steel beams, polished concrete floors and board-formed concrete foundation — its roofline, windows and skylights are just a few of the elements that embody the esthetic.
The homeowners worked with Ubeda over several months to develop the plans, doing a lot of early-concept schematic design work to see how different forms worked on the property and related to the site.
“Setting up a team very early in the process, with the contractor, interior designer, architect, landscape architect and clients, and as many people as you can get on as early as possible, it just makes for a better project,” Ubeda says. “A client is then able to make decisions, like if the concrete is more important than that other element, if you have to offset the budget with certain things — because nobody can have it all in a project.”
Style and structure
The homeowners wanted a high level of seismic upgrading with no posts to impede circulation, making the home quite complicated structurally. Kevin Pickwick, a structural engineer from the firm RJC, joined the team to find a solution that wouldn’t disrupt the esthetics. The answer? Two steel beams that flare out from the main entrance to the back of the house.
“We talked about doing those in wood, but they would have been two and a half feet deep, so we decided to move to steel, expose them and show that work being done,” Ubeda says. “The other opportunity that afforded was the skylights centred in those beams. The skylight was something that came in the conceptual design quite early. That’s where budget and team comes in: how can we keep the idea, but make it affordable? We ended up panelling it into four different skylights.”
The steel beams also allowed for the deep overhangs — other hidden beams cantilever off those exposed beams, providing support for the 13-foot overhangs, a key element of West Coast architecture, and forming the family-friendly outdoor living area.
