Liminal spaces. Liminal House by Mcleod Bovell Modern Houses
27/12/2023.
[Vancouver] Canada
metalocus, JORGE MARTINEZ
metalocus, JORGE MARTINEZ
Vancouver-based McLeod Bovell has completed a seaside home, called Liminal House, with a dramatic cantilever and multiple light-wells, between West Vancouver's natural stony seashore overlooking the Pacific Ocean and its suburban residential neighborhood, British Columbia.
The house rises on a steep plot that overlooks the Pacific Ocean, so the architects proposed the house's organization as a walk around a singular internal courtyard, and the views framed between solid walls and walls of glass, duplicating images on a dark pool. Reflections and refractions of the outdoors evoke a feeling of being neither here nor there, but somewhere in between.
The house rises on a steep plot that overlooks the Pacific Ocean, so the architects proposed the house's organization as a walk around a singular internal courtyard, and the views framed between solid walls and walls of glass, duplicating images on a dark pool. Reflections and refractions of the outdoors evoke a feeling of being neither here nor there, but somewhere in between.
Liminal House by Mcleod Bovell Modern Houses. Photograph by Hufton+Crow.
Liminal House by Mcleod Bovell Modern Houses. Photograph by Hufton+Crow.
Liminal House by Mcleod Bovell Modern Houses. Photograph by Hufton+Crow.
Liminal House by Mcleod Bovell Modern Houses. Photograph by Hufton+Crow.
Liminal House by Mcleod Bovell Modern Houses. Photograph by Hufton+Crow.
Liminal House by Mcleod Bovell Modern Houses. Photograph by Hufton+Crow.
Liminal House by Mcleod Bovell Modern Houses. Photograph by Hufton+Crow.
Liminal House by Mcleod Bovell Modern Houses. Photograph by Hufton+Crow.
Liminal House by Mcleod Bovell Modern Houses. Photograph by Hufton+Crow.
Liminal House by Mcleod Bovell Modern Houses. Photograph by Hufton+Crow.
Liminal House by Mcleod Bovell Modern Houses. Photograph by Hufton+Crow.
Liminal House by Mcleod Bovell Modern Houses. Photograph by Hufton+Crow.
Liminal House by Mcleod Bovell Modern Houses. Photograph by Hufton+Crow.
Liminal House by Mcleod Bovell Modern Houses. Photograph by Hufton+Crow.
Liminal House by Mcleod Bovell Modern Houses. Photograph by Hufton+Crow.
Liminal House by Mcleod Bovell Modern Houses. Photograph by Hufton+Crow.
Liminal House by Mcleod Bovell Modern Houses. Photograph by Hufton+Crow.
Liminal House by Mcleod Bovell Modern Houses. Photograph by Hufton+Crow.
Liminal House by Mcleod Bovell Modern Houses. Photograph by Hufton+Crow.
Liminal House by Mcleod Bovell Modern Houses. Photograph by Hufton+Crow.
Liminal House by Mcleod Bovell Modern Houses. Photograph by Hufton+Crow.
Liminal House by Mcleod Bovell Modern Houses. Photograph by Hufton+Crow.
Liminal House by Mcleod Bovell Modern Houses. Photograph by Hufton+Crow.
Liminal House by Mcleod Bovell Modern Houses. Photograph by Hufton+Crow.
Liminal House by Mcleod Bovell Modern Houses. Photograph by Hufton+Crow.
Liminal House by Mcleod Bovell Modern Houses. Photograph by Hufton+Crow.
Liminal House by Mcleod Bovell Modern Houses. Photograph by Hufton+Crow.
Liminal House by Mcleod Bovell Modern Houses. Photograph by Hufton+Crow.
Liminal House by Mcleod Bovell Modern Houses. Photograph by Hufton+Crow.
Liminal House by Mcleod Bovell Modern Houses. Photograph by Hufton+Crow.
Liminal House by Mcleod Bovell Modern Houses. Photograph by Hufton+Crow.
Liminal House by Mcleod Bovell Modern Houses. Photograph by Hufton+Crow.
Liminal House by Mcleod Bovell Modern Houses. Photograph by Hufton+Crow.
Liminal House by Mcleod Bovell Modern Houses. Photograph by Hufton+Crow.
Liminal House by Mcleod Bovell Modern Houses. Photograph by Hufton+Crow.
Liminal House by Mcleod Bovell Modern Houses. Photograph by Hufton+Crow.
Liminal House by Mcleod Bovell Modern Houses. Photograph by Hufton+Crow.
Liminal House by Mcleod Bovell Modern Houses. Photograph by Hufton+Crow.
Liminal House by Mcleod Bovell Modern Houses. Photograph by Hufton+Crow.
Liminal House by Mcleod Bovell Modern Houses. Photograph by Hufton+Crow.
Liminal House by Mcleod Bovell Modern Houses. Photograph by Hufton+Crow.
Liminal House by Mcleod Bovell Modern Houses. Photograph by Hufton+Crow.
Liminal House by Mcleod Bovell Modern Houses. Photograph by Hufton+Crow.
Liminal House by Mcleod Bovell Modern Houses. Photograph by Hufton+Crow.
Site plan. Liminal House by Mcleod Bovell Modern Houses.
Basement floor plan. Liminal House by Mcleod Bovell Modern Houses.
Ground floor plan. Liminal House by Mcleod Bovell Modern Houses.
First floor plan. Liminal House by Mcleod Bovell Modern Houses.
Section plan. Liminal House by Mcleod Bovell Modern Houses.
Section plan. Liminal House by Mcleod Bovell Modern Houses.
Section plan. Liminal House by Mcleod Bovell Modern Houses.
Elevation plan. Liminal House by Mcleod Bovell Modern Houses.
Elevation plan. Liminal House by Mcleod Bovell Modern Houses.
Elevation plan. Liminal House by Mcleod Bovell Modern Houses.
Mcleod Bovell Modern Houses designed the access through an auto area on the hillside, where the main level features a kitchen, dining, and living space, with a floating fireplace. A central stair and planted courtyard garden separate the public spaces from the garage.
The private areas have a wall of floor-to-ceiling glazing opening to a covered terrace and pool with a waterfall edge that disappears into the ocean.
The basement floor level has a light well and holds service and recreational spaces, with a second car park area, an office, a lounge space, a utility room, and a guest suite. On the south side of the floor plan, a covered terrace walks out to a spa and lower garden below the pool.
The house was built with concrete, black-stained accoya wood, and coated aluminum plate to define the exterior. The Liminal House of 1,016 square meters was completed in 2022.
Liminal House by Mcleod Bovell Modern Houses. Photograph by Hufton+Crow.
Liminal House by Mcleod Bovell Modern Houses. Photograph by Hufton+Crow.
The private areas have a wall of floor-to-ceiling glazing opening to a covered terrace and pool with a waterfall edge that disappears into the ocean.
The basement floor level has a light well and holds service and recreational spaces, with a second car park area, an office, a lounge space, a utility room, and a guest suite. On the south side of the floor plan, a covered terrace walks out to a spa and lower garden below the pool.
The house was built with concrete, black-stained accoya wood, and coated aluminum plate to define the exterior. The Liminal House of 1,016 square meters was completed in 2022.
Liminal House by Mcleod Bovell Modern Houses. Photograph by Hufton+Crow.Liminal House by Mcleod Bovell Modern Houses. Photograph by Hufton+Crow.
Project description by McLeod Bovell
The clients came to us at a pivotal stage in their lives as soon-to-be empty nesters. The evolving needs of a family became the impetus for how we imagined a house that could embody the state of transition at a conceptual and experiential level. We chose 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.
Liminal House by Mcleod Bovell Modern Houses. Photograph by Hufton+Crow.
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 the internal courtyard. Reflections and refractions of the outdoors evoke a feeling of being neither here nor there, but somewhere in between.
More information
Architects
Project team
Lead Designers: Lisa Bovell, Matt McLeod.
Collaborators
Project Manager: Daan Murray.
Structural Engineers: Ennova Structural Engineering.
Landscape Designer: Botanica Design.
Structural Engineers: Ennova Structural Engineering.
Landscape Designer: Botanica Design.
Builder
Hart + Tipton Construction.
Glazing Contractor: Atlas Meridian Glass.
Furnishings: Daniel Ching.
Millworker: Leon Lebeniste.
Glazing Contractor: Atlas Meridian Glass.
Furnishings: Daniel Ching.
Millworker: Leon Lebeniste.
Area
1016 sqm.
Dates
2022.
Location
West Vancouver, Canada.
Manufacturers
Accoya, Focus, Gaggenau, panoramah!®, CEA Design, Lapitec®, Olivari B SpA.
Photography
McLeod Bovell Modern Houses
McLeod Bovell is a collaborative project partnership specializing in the complete residential project. Since 2008, the firm has grown to include a group of 17 architects with diverse backgrounds. Its work encompasses integrated social, spatial, and environmental opportunities as generators of invention.
Over the past decade, they have gained experience designing homes on steep, irregularly shaped terrain. While these areas often offer significant views, their immediate natural features may not always be notable: neither fully cultivated nor untouched wilderness. Under these conditions, the priority of the point of view can dominate the discussion. His work strives to balance the primacy of this vision with the opportunities provided by extreme topography that allows for varied and particular programmatic sequences. Creating unusual relationships at different scales of life connects houses with their surroundings.
They work to understand the substantive elements of nature and the desires of our clients. Sometimes this is articulated, but often what is not said is what is most important. Through this ongoing dialogue, we establish a framework for making design decisions. The ideas arise from this research and not from prescriptive and preconceived solutions. Spatial experiences and idiosyncrasies are prioritized. Through this process, we hope to create work that conveys feeling, and specific character and is receptive to influences beyond their region.
Over the past decade, they have gained experience designing homes on steep, irregularly shaped terrain. While these areas often offer significant views, their immediate natural features may not always be notable: neither fully cultivated nor untouched wilderness. Under these conditions, the priority of the point of view can dominate the discussion. His work strives to balance the primacy of this vision with the opportunities provided by extreme topography that allows for varied and particular programmatic sequences. Creating unusual relationships at different scales of life connects houses with their surroundings.
They work to understand the substantive elements of nature and the desires of our clients. Sometimes this is articulated, but often what is not said is what is most important. Through this ongoing dialogue, we establish a framework for making design decisions. The ideas arise from this research and not from prescriptive and preconceived solutions. Spatial experiences and idiosyncrasies are prioritized. Through this process, we hope to create work that conveys feeling, and specific character and is receptive to influences beyond their region.
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