Complex Curves

This west coast home, a blissfully isolated beauty overlooking haro strait, takes off-the-grid living to new levels.

by Danielle Pope

The first time Allan Cockell and his wife Benedicte visited the Gulf Islands, specifically Salt Spring, they fell in love with craggy cliffs, winding arbutus forests and the deep blue of the Pacific. It’s little surprise they planted their dream home on another tiny island — this one in the middle of Haro Strait with 180-degree views.

What might be surprising, however, is that they managed to build this home entirely off-grid — on an island with no pre-existing power or water sources, and where materials (even the construction trucks) had to arrive by barge. They managed all that while tailoring the home to suit its isolated geography.

The home, on an island near Salt Spring, is perched on a rocky crest, with glorious views of the Saanich Peninsula. Sided in cedar and curved horizontally, the house looks like a noble monument to its natural environment. A wall of windows opens to the south, with solar panels tucked, strategically out of view, below the terrace.

It’s easy to see how inspiration for this home grew from its geography. Thanks to an Arts and Crafts-style approach to the workmanship, this structure combines the elegance of natural materials with an understated homage to the environment that surrounds it.

When the Cockells approached architect Bo Helliwell, designer in principal at Blue Sky Architecture, about the project, Helliwell knew there would be challenges. This wasn’t the first time he’d worked on a remote island, but the forested property, mossy ridge and limited resources would influence the home. It took five years, from concept to move-in, but the house has won awards — a Canadian Wood Council Residential Wood Design Award and a Canadian Home Builders’ Association Vancouver Island CARE Award.

“The property is nestled in rock and trees but, with the view, it was clear where the house should sit,” says Helliwell. “Our mission was to work closely with the environment to leave as much as we could undisturbed.”

Beautiful Complexity

They did just that. Like many of the island properties Helliwell works on, the lot was dotted with arbutus and Garry oak trees — both protected species. The island also had an abundance of deer, presenting a special challenge for Helliwell to overcome, since the homeowners wanted a robust garden for their near self-sufficient retreat.

These trials seem small compared with the reality that the construction crew would be arriving by boat each day, and materials would have to be craned in by barge. Not to mention, everything from the electrical resources to water supply would need to be engineered. Builder Rob Parsons of R. Parsons Construction says this is one of the more complex projects he’s worked on, but one he’s most proud of.

“It’s a beautiful house, and a complicated one — though you’d never know from looking at it, and that’s a testament to the design,” says Parsons. “With any island project, you know time will be an issue and you have to be so organized with barge trips and materials. But then, you catch the view over D’Arcy Island and Mount Doug and Cordova Bay, and you get a whole new perspective. It’s really something.”

That perspective is why the homeowners place very little artwork on their walls.

“The natural panorama is the artwork here, and it’s ever changing,” says Benedicte. “Some mornings, in the fall, I get my coffee and call to Allan and say, ‘you’ve got to come and look at this tree.’ We’re constantly surrounded by colour.”

This 2,800-square-foot house captures these views through its uniquely curved shape. The home is also equipped with many unseen features — an on-site well, a roof-water-collection system, five cisterns, 26 solar panels, electric, wind and diesel backup generators, radiant in-floor heating, on-demand water heating, UV water filtration and LED lighting. As Helliwell puts it, this house won’t lose power in a storm.

“When you have to jump in a boat to get to anything, you want to make sure your home is as self-sufficient as possible,” he says.

Natural Inspiration

Natural materials are a theme throughout the house. Douglas fir ceilings parallel Islandgrown, white oak floors. Glulam (gluedlaminated) fir beams bring a sense of strength and grounding to the open-concept living/ dining room, and a stylized redwood table, crafted by Helliwell’s son, Zeke, offers a pop of colour to the natural tones.

The house draws on Asian influences too, with a traditional Japanese wet room, featuring a deep bath and outdoor shower. Stone flooring and blue tiles in the bath play off the surrounding environment, while the kitchen’s granite countertops and metallic white backsplash match the glass and aluminum featured in this room.

Helliwell and the homeowners agree — above all, the house comes alive through its location.

“There’s a sense of space here and, even though it’s small, we have a real community on this island,” says Allan. “There are so many awe-inspiring things about this home — it’s my happy place, and it feels like a new discovery every time I open these doors.”

The “Solar Crest House,” on a remote island in the Haro Strait, combines geometric formality with organic design. Perched on a rocky ridge, the house wraps around the crest of a hill with its south-facing exposure offering the benefit of maximum solar-power opportunities. The home is powered, in part, by 26 solar photovoltaic panels, kept strategically out of sight of the expansive view of the strait from the back patio. Wind turbines, solar-battery storage and backup diesel generators also help to power this self-sufficient home.

It’s a beautiful house, and a complicated one — though you’d never know from looking at it, and that’s a testament to the design."

Ocean views open to every south and west window in the home. Large glass walls in the dining room and the adjacent entrance hall slide open to the terrace and outdoor space. Though the house is only one level, the height and generous amount of light in each room increase the feeling of space. The kitchen is one of the more modern-themed rooms of the house, with glass, tile and steel motifs contrasting the natural wood elements. Granite countertops maintain the natural feel.

The redwood dining table was custom created by Bo Helliwell’s son, Zeke, of Little Whistler Lumber. The lumber was selected to complement the bright red cedar and fir motifs found throughout the house. This open-concept room emphasizes the height of the home, with majestic Douglas fir glulam beams, rafters and decking drawing the focal points upward. Helliwell and the homeowners wanted to keep as much nature in the design as possible, such as the flooring made from white oak hardwood and Pennsylvania bluestone.

Benedicte Cockell’s favourite feature of the house is the custom-designed traditional Japanese wet room, with a deep bath and outdoor shower. While the refreshing shower is designed for cleaning, the deep bath is traditionally used as a spa to regulate temperature and relax the entire body, from feet to ears, in a comfortable seated position. Lined with one-by-one-inch glass tiles in Interstyle’s Dewdrops tile in the colour Waterways, the room’s esthetic plays off the ocean’s blues.

Resources

Lead Architects: Bo Helliwell and Kim Smith, Blue Sky Architecture

Construction Manager: Rob Parsons, R. Parsons Construction

Interior Design: Bo Helliwell and Kim Smith, Blue Sky Architecture

Kitchen/Bathroom Millwork: Dan Johnson Woodworking

Plumber: Heatwave Plumbing & Heating

Electrician: Abbott Electric

Exterior Doors: Loewen Window Centre, Karmanah Wood Design

Windows: Loewen Window Centre

Roofing: A-Z Roofing

Drywall M. Allen Drywall

Painting: TKG PaintingINTERIOR DOORS: Karmanah Wood Design

Finishing Carpentry: R. Parsons Construction

Flooring: Heritage Hardwood Flooring

Glass: Parker Glass

Landscape: Aaron Pitt, Bodhi Landscapes

Pavers: Island Stone Landscape Supply

Solar Consultant: Kevin Pegg, EA Energy Alternatives

Structural Engineer: Carlos Chiu, Chiu Hippmann Engineering