Friday, March 16, 2012

The Planning Season: an update

As I mentioned somewhere else on this blog, winter is truly the best time to plan. We've made quite some progress this winter and have a floorplan we love for our new cabin.

OK, it's not spectacular, but it is what we want and reflects the way we live, even better than The Tree House (our home in Lions Bay). We ummed and ahed about what we wanted to build, not only because committing to something that will survive our (my!) changing whims after decades of dreaming is very hard, not only because we have a limited budget, but also because we didn't want our cabin to stick out like a sore thumb on the beautiful, wild Boulder Point landscape. We want it to fade into the rocky cliff behind it, nestle quietly in the trees... you get the idea. We also wanted something that sits lightly on the lot in order to preserve the natural habitat.

So we toyed with a two-storey build that might hide in part behind a rocky outcrop, but discarded it in favour of a long, slimlined building on piers. Since we plan to harvest rainwater, we have known for some time it would have a metal roof. The siding decision... not so easy! Window colours, well, the jury's still out pending the siding verdict. Looks like we're leaning towards CertainTeed... Maybe the dutchlap, which has uniform reveals and should make the structure look longer and leaner withough being cluttered. I also really like the idea of unprofiled cement board around the undercover BBQ area for visual interest.


The recent wind storms are a stark reminder that life on the edge of the ocean is sometimes harsh beyond human imagination. I'm talking about the dock. There is no way our dock can be in the water all year round and one of the biggest debates of late (again) is do we invest in a lift and rotate style ramp, or do we take it down and moor it elsewhere each winter? It is of course about the budget, because we know the correct answer. Even so - it's a big differential.

Although I'm still busy doing elevation and section drawings, I've done one: the south elevation, the one we'll see as we sail up to the house. There is some poetic license here - the rain chain, and the patio tomato plant in a pot, and the piers are in reality closer to the rock. But it's quite interesting to see it rendered!!

I want the colours to blend in with the rock face behind it, so have for now gone with warm greys for the siding and a plain galvalume standing seam metal roof, which should reflect summer heat to a degree as well as fade into the boulders.

Oh the angst in making this commitment!! But we're working with this for now - I can picture the interior and need to draw it so my other half can see what I see. Will post them here as they're completed!!

No comments:

Post a Comment