Information provided by Architecture Building Culture. Photos by Andrew Latreille.
At the base of a cliff on a gently sloping 15,000 square-foot site, the Cranley house is located in the verdant rainforest of British Columbia. Designed by Architecture Building Culture, the single-story dwelling maintains a low profile as it takes cues from the topography and climbs the landscape in four tiers. The design reinterprets many of the hallmarks of West Coast modernism: a simple roof form, an open-plan layout, planar walls, floor-to-ceiling windows, and glazed doors that afford an abundance of natural light and bind the inside with outdoor terraces and views.
The new residence was designed after the family had lived in the existing house for two years to learn how the seasons interact with the site. The design brief was centered on a strong need for natural light and both visual and physical connections to the outdoor space. Also, to work within a modest budget and footprint to create a four-bedroom layout that is both efficient and spacious. The emphasis was on space, light, and lifestyle over expensive high-end materials or fixtures.
Deceptively small from the outside, the living space opens up with large windows and rising views of the bedroom wing, the backyard, garden, cliffs, and forest beyond. The main living room is at street level and the bedrooms, each with their own terrace, connect to the courtyard area with the master bedroom at the very top.
Neither front nor back orientation is over-emphasized at the expense of the other so that for the inhabitants, the house is as much about enjoying a private landscape as a shared one.
With an $850,000 budget, the homeowners wanted to incorporate simple, natural materials like polished concrete floors paired with Canadian Northern White Oak engineered flooring in the transitions and bedrooms. In the kitchen, Caesarstone in ‘Ocean Foam’ adorns the island countertop. Thanks to the home’s welcoming character and treed landscape, this unassuming modern home embodies the essence of relaxed west coast living.
