Norfolk House

Envisioned as “desert modern in the rainforest,” this single-level home was designed for a retired couple seeking a refuge to age without the hindrance of stairs or other barriers. We optimized its more intimate spaces for day-to-day living and larger spaces for entertaining. With the notions of compression-and-release and interiority in mind, one experiences compression upon entering the passages to the home then release into open spaces with extensive privacy, despite the expansive use of glass. Outside, galvalume fascia picks up every colour in the sky from summer cyan to winter silver. The Carmanah marble “god’s eyes” at the front-entry doors create a local, if sublime, architectural threshold.