I met my husband because he had piles of reclaimed wood in his yard to build his house with and a friend who thought I could help introduced us. We share the same vision to try to live a sustainable life. This wood was salvaged from an old warehouse demolished in the Lower Mainland. We will reuse all this reclaimed wood for all sorts of secondary uses - structure, roofing, siding, cabinetry, windows, doors, furniture, landscaping and finally firewood for heating when all other uses are exhausted.
Jump ahead a few years and we purchased an undeveloped ranch. After couple of years of observing and planning and we have a site location and orientation for our house.
House site facing West
We spent alot of time deciding the location for the house. The master plan for the site hinges on the house location. We chose a location that provided the best view combined with the longest solar exposure in the winter. We want to take advantage of as much passive solar as possible, but because we only get 4 hours of sunshine in the dead of winter in our mountain location, we will incorporate other forms of renewable energy into our design.
Concept Sketch - Birds Eye View
The house and garage will be mostly earth sheltered to the North and fully under a living roof. Ample glazing with indoor greenhouses will be predominant on the South face.
The footprint is compact. The idea is that we don't need separate rooms for each dwelling experience, but that the rooms can be combined to serve many functions. An internal street will connect the entries to the open kitchen/dining/living room and into the master bedroom and bathroom. A bright, sunny office will bridge the corridor between the house and the attached garage. Ancillary space between the office & garage will provide storage, additional sleeping & office space and an additional bathroom.
Concept Sketch for House