A HOME AS TIMELESS AS t FOREST IT SAVES. ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN GUIDELINES
My very best friend is a tree She’s always glad to see me She rustles her leaves As I roll up my sleeves And climb up her trunk to the top She likes me sitting up here With the birds and the bees and the air And all of our troubles Disappear just like bubbles And together we always feel better Oh, it’s nice to be loved by a tree And she loves to be loved by me Our love is unique Because we don’t have to speak We just care to share time together -Ann Mortifee
4 Genesis of the design vernacular: The Hamlet 5 Habitat Clustering
10 Timber Frame
16 Landscaping, Fencing and Walls
11 Cupolas, Occuli and Roof Ridge Projections
Landscaping, Fencing and Walls in the “Building Zone”
6 Verticality 8 Outbuildings
12 Decks and Balconies 13 Natural Materials
17 Energy
9 Architectural Features:
14 Structural Authenticity
Clustering of Buildings Massing of Buildings
Obvious Main Entry Roofs
Dormers
Overhangs and Soffits
Artisanal Construction
in “Protected Zones”
Design Review Process
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“ There is a dawning awakening that is beginning to change the way we live in, work with and appreciate our world. It is becoming obvious that if we do not support a conscious interdependent relationship with Nature, Nature will no longer support us. As more and more of our forest lands are falling to industrial deforestation, many of us are hungry for an alternative to the ways we develop land, work in the woods and value the beauty and productivity of our forests. It is time for us to learn to live sustainably in every possibly way that we can. Our vision is in response to this rising urge. Living Forest Communities are proposing small hamlet communities nestled within growing, healthy, productive forests.
The hamlets will cover no more than 5-15% of the land and will be designed to capture a sense of natural beauty and timeless grace with an emphasis on longevity and sustainability. The design guidelines are intended to create a community so pleasing that the next generations will be thrilled to inherit it.
will have little work in the coming years. This will further serve to create small value-added, wood-related businesses (milling, doors, furniture, etc.) helping to re-invigorate our local economies and take the stress off government subsidies and unemployment insurance.
The majority of the land will reflect our overarching commitment to support a large scale transition from industrial deforestation to light on the land eco-system based forestry, ensuring that the community members can live in a park like setting in perpetuity. Not only will the vast majority of trees remain standing to mature and produce more wood over time, our vision will also create thousands of jobs for loggers, who, under the present system,
The vision for Living Forest Communities is further intended to protect habitat for woodland creatures, and assure the health of our streams, lakes, and underground water. And, in the case of Elkington Forest, it will grow local food from its own orchards and gardens. We feel we have created a wonderful vision whose time has come, lest we forget that our forests are the lungs of our planet.� Ann Mortifee, CM, Chair and Co-Founder The Trust for Sustainable Forestry
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We claim this land f planet Earth Th e l i v i n g f o r e s t c o mm u n i t y m o d e l A 1000 acre eco-forest conservation community with 85% protected forest and just 77 homes clustered in three mixed-use hamlets. This is Elkington Forest, one giant leap for sustainability. In total, the settlement areas, food production areas and connecting roads will not constitute more than 15% of the site.The rest of the land will be placed in conservation covenants (plant and wildlife protection) and ecosystem-based forestry operations.
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Genesis of the design vernacular: The Hamlet The buildings at Elkington Forest will be very workmanlike. The pioneers who built the first houses in rural communities, did the obvious thing, with the materials they found at hand. Pioneer simplicity was no accident. They worked with a reduced kit of parts which helped to create a simple, well proportioned aesthetic. One example of a hamlet is a small cluster of houses surrounding a village green. Similar to European villages, each hamlet in Elkington Forest will feature homes and shops fronting onto a landscaped, community green space.
Of special note, our hamlet vernacular is not influenced by temporary traditional work camps but exhibits the longevity and integrity of traditional European hamlets. In pioneer days, people were drawn together in small villages that were primarily focused around work: agriculture, mining, fishing, forestry, logging. The homes were typically clustered together as a nucleus, offering protection, efficiency and a social life. Within the Elkington Forest community, the desire to come together will be for similar reasons. However, instead of a common work-related industry to draw people together, the new rationale for buying and living in the Elkington Forest
community is more complex and based on a sense of shared values, particularly the sustainable goals of the living forest. A desire to live in a beautiful, sustainable environment with others sharing this vision will be a strong draw to form the community. This vision provides an immediate ‘something in common’ with all your neighbors, and the differences in life paths will provide a cross fertilization of ideas and conversations that will provide a rich and diverse sense of community. While the design of the hamlets will foster neighborhood interaction, providing a real alternative to the often sterile neighborhoods of suburbia.
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Habitat Clustering
Clustering of Buildings
Massing of Buildings
Habitat clustering establishes boundaries for the wild habitat corridors, so that the natural indigenous ecosystems flourish as wild areas outside of the hamlet areas. Conversely, the interconnection of fences, gates, buildings and cattle guards at the borders of the hamlet areas will establish boundaries that exclude deer, and other non-domestic animals, protecting the urban and food production areas.
The clustering of buildings and the appropriate placement of street walls will also establish defined human scale gathering spaces that encourage a greater sense of community and face to face interaction. Hamlets work well when houses, shops and community facilities are built with a ‘build to’ line, so that the frontages of the structures create an interesting “street wall”.
The massing of buildings is intended to be primarily, simple rectangular or geometric shapes, typical of Arts & Crafts-style homes with floor plans that help define courtyards or positive space to create opportunities for private outdoor living. “The presence of the building if properly oriented to sun, shade and wind can create a microclimate and temper the outdoor room, making it all the more appealing.” 1
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Taken from “Patterns of Home”, Jacobsen, Silverstein, Winslow
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Verticality Windows, doors, balcony railings, garage doors and other architectural features are to be constructed with primarily vertical proportions. Traditionally, windows and openings were designed to represent the human body. Vitruvius (The Roman Architect) talked about architecture as an imitation of Nature. The Vitruvian man (famously drawn by Leonardo Da Vinci), represents perfect human proportions and fundamental geometric patterns of the cosmic order. Openings, therefore, should be taller than wider and it is preferable that the front faรงade of the building be of vertical proportions.
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Verticality continued Vertically proportioned windows may be ‘ganged up’ in twos or more to give the effect of a large glazed area without the use of picture windows. i.e. Solariums and Conservatories must be made up of a series of vertically proportioned windows, mullions and muntins. No butted glass is allowed for solariums or corner windows. For porches and pergolas, where columns are employed, the vertical elements should be separated with a space no larger than the length of the same column height. The intent is to maintain the traditional feeling and look of solid walls with
framed window and door openings. However, more extensive use of glass may be used in areas where there are views and/or potential solar gains. Openings on a building façade should account for no more than 50% of the total building wall area. Too many openings make walls appear weak and ill proportioned. When doors are wider than a single door panel, they must be French doors rather than Patio doors. Open able window walls are not allowed.
Garage doors can be horizontal roll up doors, but must be made up so that the horizontal panels are not dominant. More like a Carriage Door than a typical suburban garage door. There are several instances where a horizontal proportion is appropriate in a window. They are in clerestory windows where two roofs meet with a small vertical separationbetween them, on a pop up roof top element that will function to let natural light in fromabove. And on small roof elements such as cupolas and occuli. It is also acceptable to have horizontal windows on garage doors to break up the mass of the door. Vinyl garage doors are not allowed.
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Outbuildings In suburban residential development there is often no outside space that feels completely private. Accordingly, outbuildings such as carports, garages, greenhouses, and storage sheds must be separated from the main house so as to create a positive space: an area that has enough definition - from walls, fences, steps, trees and edges of all kinds – to be seen and experienced as a coherent, nameable place.
Obvious Main Entry These spaces don’t need to be large, only visually protected by virtue of the correct location of buildings and wings of buildings in relation to each other. Cruciform or ‘H’ shaped floor plans and groupings help to establish these kinds of intimate and useable outdoor spaces. The buildings can be connected with breezeways,pergolas, decks etc.
The main entry should notbe hidden from view or around a corner. The front door to the house should be obvious from the Street. It should send a messageof welcoming and accessibility, de-marked by a front porch, portico or verandah that provides shelter and brings the visual focus to the front door.
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Architectural Features Adding to the traditional character of the homes within the forest hamlet vernacular will be the use of dormers, gables, bay and box windows, projecting balconies, recessed decks and doors, and covered porches.
Roofs Roofs are to be non combustible, standing seam metal, rusted steel, copper or slate. Concrete, clay, wood, and synthetic materials are not approved materials for sloped roofs. Flat roofs and decks over living space may be torch on, fiberglass or other waterproof membranes. Where flat roofs or decks are viewed from above, they must be clad in a decking system or be a ‘green roof’. The ‘main roof’ of the house is a gable roof which must have a minimum of a 12/12 roofslope. No hipped roofs are allowed. This roof is the dominant architectural element of the house and all other roofs and projections are
secondary to it. This means that the secondary roofs and projections will typically have a shallower slope (minimum of 3/12) and be lower than the ‘main roof’, except for ‘main roof’ projections such as cupolas,occuli, etc. Secondary roofs can be gables or shed roofs. Roof pitch changes onsecondary roofs will give the effect of ‘cascading roofs’. Other roof forms such as Dutchhip, or gambrel roofs are not allowed. This simple palette of roof forms will help to insurethe continuity of the pioneer simplicity feel to the hamlets.
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Timber Frame Timber frame construction, featured in the great room and enterance, is a signature of the ElkingtonForest homes and the ‘main roof’ building must be of timber frame construction. It is important that the exterior elevations convey an expression of the timber frame motif that carries the interior structure to the outside.The use of FSC timber from the property will be encouraged.
Dormers Areas where timber frame can be successfully used on the exterior include main entry porches, overhangs, bay window supports and other cantilevers, carports, pergolas, decks and outbuildings. Timber can also be used to separate glazing elements, one from the other instead of standard ‘stick framing’.
Dormers are encouraged, to break up the mass of the ‘main roof’. Dormers can be shed, gable or other shapes at the discretion of the Design Review Committee (i.e. ‘eyebrow’ or curved). Dormers can be flush with the exterior wall of the main building, with the roof eaves of the ‘main roof’ broken at the intersection of the dormers, inset into the main roof, or cantilevered past the main building wall, with timber frame supports.
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Cupolas, Occuli and Roof Ridge Projections
Overhangs and Soffits
Roof projections can extend beyond the ridge of the main roof, as long as they express the same character as the main roof in finishes. This is one instance where windows may be square or even horizontally proportioned, as is the case of a clerestory.
Because of the precipitation inherent in the Rain Forest, roof overhangs must be minimum of two (2) feet past the exterior wall. Overhangs over three (3) feet, measured horizontally, must be supported by timber frame knee braces or other approved methods (i.e. timber frame outlooks). This is an ideal application for the use of timber frame elements. The ‘main roof’ should have a larger overhang than the secondary roofs. Soffits can be exposed or built in, either on the flat or on the slope. In order to meet fire protection standards, rather than vinyl or aluminum, the approved soffit materials are fire-rated wood siding or Hardsoffit.
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Decks and Balconies Another good application for timber frame details is on decks and balconies. Verticalsupports of decks should be a full dimensioned 6 x 6 or 8 x 8, so as not to appear spindly. Decks should have vertical balusters with a minimum of 2 x 2 full dimensioned wood elements. Glass panels, if chosen in keeping with vertically, are permitted. Aluminum or vinyl is not allowed as a material for the construction of decks. If decks are to be impermeable, i.e. over living spaces below, they must be colour matched to the exterior colour of the house. The underside of decks must be fire-proofed.
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Natural Materials Use of natural materials is encouraged, including exposed timber framing and bracing, wood siding, wood shingles or non combustible equivalents, earth plasters, cob/straw/clay infill walls, rammed earth walls, and natural stone walls. For exterior areas and landscaping a predominance of local stone is encouraged for retaining walls with a combination of natural stone, thin veneer stone, pavers, brick, permeable stone pathways, stacked block walls and some concrete stacked wall (Allan Block) permitted. All transitions in grade should be demarcated through the use of natural stone.
Artisanal Construction The use of cultured stone (composite, manmade) is not allowed. For stonework, a dry stacked look is preferable to the heavy use of mortared joints. Mortar joints should be recessed rather than pointed and made proud of the masonry. An organic quality to the stonework is encouraged, rather than a highly refined urban look. Less straight lines and square cuts There is an abundance of stone on site and its use is encouraged. Stone with a non indigenous colour palette is discouraged.
It is encouraged to use materials in an Artisanal way that will create a sense of beautyand individuality in the homes. From sculpted shingles, to rustic stonework, to stained glass windows, and the artistic use of timber frame (carved and sculpted rafter tails forexample) every material can be used in a unique and artistic way, to highlight a part ofthe building - to make that part of the house special. This application of artisanal workmanship hearkens back to an earlier time when mass production had less of a stamp on the way things looked and felt. It is required that front doors and garage doors be visually different from each other on neighboring houses.
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Structural Authenticity Overhanging structures, balconies, decks, bay windows, or other appurtenances that extend more than three (3) feet beyond the plane of the building must be supported by visible means of support, knee braces, columns, pilings or other traditional construction methods. Buildings will not be permitted to rely only on the use of modern building technologies such as steel “I� beams, or cantilevered reinforced concrete. A heavier material cannot appear to be supported on a lighter support system i.e. a rock faced beam supported on wooden clad posts.
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Structural Authenticity continued The juxtaposition of different materials on a building façade is encouraged. For example, using a tripartite division of the elevation (base, middle, top) a harmonious composition can be achieved by using a heavier base (stone), then vertical or horizontal siding, and then shingles in the gable. Barge boards of a suitable width should be used to separate one material from another. Trim work is encouraged to be at least 2” thick for material separations and a full dimensioned 1” for window and door trim. Where support posts are used to support upper floors on sloping sites, they should be of sufficient size to give a sense of solidity.
It is encouraged for houses to be built on pilings leaving the understorey undisturbed. Where concrete foundations are used the amount of exposed concrete should be minimized, with the building ‘skin’ coming down to within 6 inches of the surrounding grade. On steeply sloping sites it is encouraged to create a useable space below the main living floor to get closer to the grade. A stone base can help to visually anchor the house to the slope.
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Landscaping, Fencing and Walls in “Protected Zones”
Landscaping, Fencing and Walls in the “Building Zone”
Natural and indigenous landscaping will be encouraged in the “protected zones” or those portions of the lot identified as such on the building envelope plan, and 15 feet from the back of the house. No fences or impermeable walls will be permitted in these “protected zones”. No cosmetic toxic chemicals, or pesticides will be allowed anywhere within Elkington Forest. No storage of equipment, machinery or vehicles will be permitted. Only restorative ecological practices will be allowed in the protected areas as determined by the strata council. No cutting of trees will be permitted without consultation of an approved, registered arborist.
Within all front and side yards located within the “Building Zone”, as identified in the building envelope plan, non-indigenous landscaping and plantings will be encouraged. Fencing, walls, structures or hard landscaping features may be built from any natural wood, stone or earth based cob materials, subject to approval by Design Review Committee. No cosmetic toxic chemicals, or pesticides will be allowed anywhere within Elkington Forest.
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Energy In order to improve energy performance of the homes, Living Forest Communities will assist the homeowners with undertaking energy modeling simulations. Energy auditing will be a portion of the design and orientation process for all custom and model homes in order to identify the cost benefit measures relative to the following:
Design Review Process • • • • •
Solar orientation and passive heating/cooling Massing and insulation Glazing and overhangs Natural vegetation and shading Predominant wind patterns and cooling
Energy performance modeling and design alternatives will need to be ground proofed through observations of seasonal climatic conditions and balanced with other design considerations such as the creation of street walls, and verticality of proportions.
A Building Design Advisory Committee will be established to provide direction to designers and architects so as to encourage a unifying vernacular forest hamlet aesthetic for homes in the hamlet areas. The principles of the design guidelines and the direction of the committee will be flexible enough to respect personal tastes and architectural creativity.
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CREDITS I would like to acknowledge the following people in the co-creative process of putting together the Design Guidelines for Elkington Forest. First, to the developer, Doug Makaroff, whose vision for an innovative way of developing rural lands will set a new paradigm for the future, to songstress Ann Mortifee for reviewing the guidelines and for offering the wonderful poem found at the beginning of the document, and to Ayrie Cunliffe whose gorgeous water colour renderings explain better than any words, the texture and feeling that we are looking for in the architectural fabric of the community.
Our design team was made up of Doug Makaroff, Aristides Cota, Alison Clark, Claudia de Haan, and Tim Hewett from Living Forest Communities, with the following consultants who generously gave their time during these sessions. Ayrie Cunliffe from Ayrie Cunliffe Architect, Bill Patterson from Citta Construction, Cathie Jeffrey from RE/Max - Mill Bay, Shayne Jessop, real estate and marketing consultant, JC Scott from Eco Design Gallery, Gord MacDonald from Macdonald & Lawrence Timber Framing Ltd. and Peter Walters and Aleya Samji from Anonymousadvertising.com. Thanks to all for the hard work, great synergy and laughter in putting this document together. Doug Campbell B. Arch, D & C Design and Project Management.
Photographic images of homes in the Elkington Forest ‘vernacular’ were graciously supplied from their body of work, as follows: Pages10 (left), 12 (left), 14 by Gord MacDonald from Macdonald & Lawrence Timber Framing Ltd. Pages5, 7 (middle), 9, 11 (left and center), 12 (right), 13 (left and right) by Ted Benson and Bill Holtz of Bensonwood Homes Pages8 (left), 15 (right) by David Hall AIA and Julie Blazek AIA, Henry Klein Architects in Seattle Inside front cover and page 2 by Garth Lenz All renderings by Ayrie Cunliffe Poem and introductory copy by Ann Mortifee
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