This Single-Storey Dwelling on Vancouver Island Knits Together Light and Landscape
Arbour House, designed by Patkau Architects, looks over the waters of Cadboro Bay in Victoria.
The area surrounding Cadboro Bay near Victoria, British Columbia, epitomizes the Pacific Northwest lifestyle: sandy beaches, a serene bay ideal for kayaking and paddleboarding, and nearby forest trails. So it’s no wonder that the active owners of this expansive contemporary dwelling, a retired couple, chose the idyllic oceanfront location for their permanent home.
To achieve their vision—a longevity-minded, single-storey house that would allow them to host large gatherings but also have privacy—the couple reached out to Patkau Architects, led by founding principals John and Patricia Patkau. The Vancouver-based firm is known for its award-winning credentials at home and abroad, as well as its talent for enhancing the play of natural light throughout a home.
According to the architects, one-floor living can pose a challenge on sloped terrain such as this as it requires wide proportions. Their solution was to site the 4,000-square-foot home toward the top elevation on the property, allowing for 1,900 square feet of additional living space below the main floor, as well as a garage. To create a feeling of privacy, the owners enlisted Haven Garden Design and Red Door Landscape Services to expand a grove of protected Garry oak trees.
The Patkaus’ approach for the flow of the interior was to design a series of rooms with shared passages, unified by a pleated hemlock roof and ceiling that resembles a garden structure, thus the name Arbour House. During the day, light passes through the perforations and casts a chevron-like pattern across the walls and oak floors. The windows above the latticed ceiling are all operable skylights.
Full walls of retractable glazing take advantage of the bay views in front and rocky, treed land behind the home. In fact, the retractable walls help to increase ventilation—part of the architects’ passive-design strategies, which also included the use of deep overhangs for shade and 3D energy modelling. The build also prioritized renewable energy, thanks to a mix of geothermal and solar energy, and heat pumps for zoned heating and cooling.
Though it’s hard to miss the house’s indoor-outdoor connection, an infinity pool that runs along the length of the front bedroom to the living room puts a punctuation mark on the deep connection Arbour House has with its surroundings.
Photographs by James Dow/Patkau Architects.
