McLeod Bovell Modern Houses along with Postle Construction were commissioned to create this three-story house for their clients at a pivotal stage in their lives as soon-to-be empty nesters, situated in West Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The project was driven by the evolving needs of a family, inspiring a vision for a home that reflects their state of transition on both conceptual and experiential levels.

Titled “liminal house”, the project team selected the word liminal to encapsulate ideas that have informed the design process: namely the feeling of inhabiting a transitory place; orchestrating movement through space, and dwelling in the moments between from and to…

The project site straddles the interstice between a suburban residential neighborhood and West Vancouver’s natural stony seashore. Positioned on an expanded border between land and sea, the building form references the creatures that occupy this interstitial territory, whose physiology has adapted to such challenging conditions.

In the same spirit, the house establishes itself in concrete, stained Accoya wood, and aluminum plate—enduring materials that can resist the battering effect of a shore environment.

Drawing from our experience negotiating complex topography and tight proximity with neighbors, we have learned to abandon the reading of the project as a series of flat “elevations” that exist from an imaginary or inaccessible viewpoint. Instead, we embrace a scenographic approach where the house can be understood after having moved through and around it.

The language of courtyards, cantilevered volumes, and extension of landscaped surfaces onto floor areas below dismantle boundaries between the house and the natural environment.

The changing outdoor atmosphere at the shore not only animates the house but is in turn animated by the house: views are framed between solid walls and walls of glass; their images are duplicated by a dark pool at the edge of the property and by the glazing of internal courtyards. Reflections and refractions of the outdoors evoke a feeling of being neither here nor there, but somewhere in between.

What We Love: This West Vancouver house provides its inhabitants with a modern, clean-lined home that focuses on the views of the ocean. This is the ultimate house for entertaining with the fabulous indoor-outdoor connection and ease of flow through the living spaces. The swimming pool is spectacular, designed to feel like it is extending endlessly towards the horizon. We especially love how the main bedroom and bathroom have floor-to-ceiling windows that perfectly frame the ocean, offering a feeling of serenity.

Tell Us: What are your overall thoughts on the design of this dwelling? Please share your thoughts in the Comments below!

Note: Take a look at a couple of other fabulous home tours that we have showcased here on One Kindesign in the province of British Columbia: A historic home on Vancouver Island gets transformed into a serene getaway and A sophisticated coastal chic home in Vancouver gets a stunning update.

PHOTOGRAPHER Hufton+Crow

One Kindesign has received this project from our submissions page. If you have a project you would like to submit, please visit our submit your work page for consideration!