image from www.patkau.ca

Vancouver for a long time has been the “hub” of both modern architecture & WestCoast design; with tall glass skyscrapers, concrete-clad homes and buildings, metal and glass frame structures, and many times forced to derive innovative solutions for such diverse geography.  One home which definitely stands-out among the rest, and shines above the constraints of it’s site location, is the SHAW HOUSE.  Designed by Pakau Architects, the home constructed of reinforced concrete sits only 8 meters wide (26 Ft.) and even more uniquely has a swimming pool on a second level.  On the waterfront with captivating, unobstructed views, they truly maximized the allowance of light into the space to provide openness, luminosity, and a sense of granduer!

Here is a little description from the Architecture Firm itself:

Program
A private residence of 285 square metres for a single person. The program includes living spaces, bedroom, study, music room, and a lap pool.

Site
The site is a small waterfront property, 10 metres wide by 47 metres deep, looking across English Bay to the North Shore mountains which dominate the skyline of Vancouver. Required sideyard setbacks result in a plan which is limited to 8 metres in width.

Design
The house is organized with living spaces on grade, private spaces above grade, and music room below grade. The dimensions of the site made it difficult to locate the lap pool on grade while retaining generous living spaces. Consequently, the lap pool is located above grade, along the west side of the house, connected at either end to the terraces off of the bedroom and study.
Within the narrow floor plates spatial expansion is only possible outward over the water and upward through the volume of the house. Small spaces are enlarged with generous ceiling heights, while the fully interiorized dining room rises through the floor above to a clerestory that brings both daylight and light reflected from the lap pool deep into the central area of the plan.

Construction
Vancouver is located in an area of high seismic risk. In this context, with the lap pool located above grade, a robust structure is required that is resistant to significant lateral forces. As a result, the house is constructed almost entirely of reinforced concrete.

Awards
American Institute of Architects National Honor Award 2005
Governor General’s Medal 2004
Record House Selection 2002

image from www.patkau.ca

image from www.patkau.ca

image from www.patkau.ca

image from www.patkau.ca

image from www.patkau.ca

image from www.patkau.ca

image from www.patkau.ca

image from www.patkau.ca

image from www.patkau.ca