North Beach in Orcas Island, Washington by Heliotrope Architects

This residence is located on a northwesterly oriented beach fronting the Strait of Georgia.  The site includes many second-growth douglas firs, a beech grove and a grassy meadow with good solar exposure.  For over a thousand years this site was a summer camp location for the Lummi Indians, and due to its archeological significance, no footing excavation could take place on the site.  Further, its location in a federally designated flood plain required that the structure be raised off the ground several feet.  The design brief called for a very low-impact, easy to maintain summer home that provides necessary programmatic functions with minimum distractions from the land and the view.

North Beach

• Architects: Heliotrope Architects
• Project: North Beach
• Location: Island, Washington
• Collaborators: Swenson Say Faget (structural), David Shore (general contractor), the Loop Company (cabinetry), owner (interiors)
• Primary exterior materials: standing seam metal siding, ironwood decking, powder-coated steel railings & planters
• Primary interior materials: alder, marble, laminated glass, painted wood
• Primary products: Dorn Bracht & Lacava (fixtures), Wetstyle (tub), Raumplus (sliding interior doors), Fleetwood (exterior windows/doors)
• Software used: AutoCAD, SketchUp

North Beach

The design response situates the structure among the trees directly between the beach and the meadow, with walls of glass opening out to both.  While actual shelter is provided, the experience is of nearly complete openness to the environment, with a minimized structure meant to disappear from view.  Steel tube columns minimize visible structure from the interior, while wood shear-wall elements provide a bold form when seen from the exterior.

Interior View

A matt-slab was utilized to avoid excavation, and the foundation recessed to minimize the footprint.  The roof is vegetated, which filters rainwater that in turn is collected and stored for use in irrigating the garden and flushing toilets.  Potable hot water and hydronic heating are aided by 90 evacuated tube collectors on the roof, and a 4kW PV panel system above the vegetable garden provides supplemental electricity.  The home is intended for occupancy from May through October, and systems have been designed to zero out electricity use over the course of a full year.

Front View

Living Room

Bedroom

Image Courtesy Sean Airhart

Night View

Image Courtesy Sean Airhart

Interior View

Exterior View

Site View

Floor Plan

Diagram

Tags: Orcas Island, Washington

Categories: Autocad, House, SketchUp

This entry was posted on Thursday, May 5th, 2011 at 2:16 pm. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.