Wedge House walk-thru detailed description

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10a

Design parameters:

Tricky lot - perfect project for Plum Design. This pie shaped lot has a south facing 30 ft frontage on a hillside cul-de-sac, with 12ft of cliff top at road side and the rest of the lot 25ft below. The young owners gambled on Plum's inventiveness to design a house to fit the lot. The wedge shape is the direct outcome of the lot shape.

Main features:

The wedge shape, with triangular side extrusions, plus the sun room twisted to 45 degrees allowing the stair landing windows to have fabulous views, give this house a contemporary yet timeless aspect. The open 1st floor plan, plus the sun room and roof deck, provide living spaces that are stimulating.

The front of the house is anchored to the rock at street level - rebar set in drilled holes in the rock and secured with concrete front foundation wall and car parking pad. The rest of the house is supported on five 25 ft high metal posts and beams set on large concrete pads.

Walk through description:

One enters along a 4ft cantilevered walkway to the front door which is recessed beneath a wedge shaped protrusion above to provide cover from rain. A matching recess/protrusion on the other side of the building provides deck space off the kitchen for outdoor barbecuing or coffee in the morning sun.

The living space is 14ft wide and 30ft across the back of the wedge. Traffic flow is on the left from kitchen and front door to stairs and triangulated closet. The stair landing rests on a 2 inch square metal post which forms part of the metal stair rail and continues up to support the second stair landing above. The living room floor is open under the stairs to two 3ft square windows under the landing providing visual expansiveness to the living room - plus a cliff top view from these and the landing windows above.

There's a half wall separating the kitchen from the living room, but one looks right across the kitchen to the dining room and eating bar - 44ft from the stair landing to the front of the dining room. To compensate for minimal overhead kitchen cupboards there's an 8ft high and 12ft wide closet on the wall backing onto the entrance deck.

At the top of the first flight of stairs is a computer desk while at the opposite side of the landing is a laundry space - with washer and drier under a counter top near the 4ft linen closet. The open stairwell makes the laundry area feel spacious.

Across from bedroom #2 is the guest bathroom and toilet. In the passage leading from the main bedroom is a sky light plus 8ft of shelving or closet.

Up the second flight of stairs is the 'sun room' on the third floor, which opens onto the roof deck - or roof garden since access to the lot at the bottom of the cliff is awkward. There's a fan on the ceiling above the stairwell and one can look over the rail to the living room floor two stories below. A counter sink in this sun room serves as a bar sink or cleanup spot. There is an outside tap for a hose to water tubs of plants on the roof deck as well as external electrical outlets.

The trellis attached to the exterior of the sun room extends over the sides of the roof deck parapet to provide balance and visual interest when viewed from the street. The house is clad in vertical metal siding - one colour for the main wedge and a second contrasting colour on the stairwell and side wedge extrusions.

Why is this house affordable?

The construction is pretty simple once one figures the angles. The 1st floor is only 765 sq.ft., the 2nd floor 845 sq.ft., and the sun room 256 sq.ft. - giving a total inside space of only 1866 sq.ft. The roof deck is 539 sq.ft., giving ample room for roof top parties and space to grow vegetation in planters.

Any questions? Don't hesitate to email Plum Design and ask. Suggestions are welcomed too.

(print - read while looking at plans)