This  warm, attractive residence, well integrated its its rural settings. is one of the recipients of the AIA’s Housing Awards.

Approaching the rural site, a clearing briefly reveals the Port Townsend Residence in the distance, spanning the end of a long meadow framed by forest.


After winding through dense woods, the drive opens to the home’s entry, where wood screens obscure the distant views. The path to the house steps up and turns onto the breezeway deck, where the full nature of the site is finally revealed as the view focuses over the edge of a high bluff to the Strait of Juan de Fuca, with Protection Island and beyond.

A line of exposed steel structure and a series of wood columns extend the length of the slender building, supporting wood beams and rafters.

Photo Credit: © Nic Lehoux Photography

From October 14th – 17th, over 200 exhibitors will gather under the roof of Vancouver’s new convention centre for Western Canada’s  residential design event: Interior Design Show West (IDSwest). In addition to highlighting interior designers, architects, and design-focused products and services, this year’s show will also feature presentations from Canadian Design Celebrity Sarah Richardson, host of Sarah’s House on HGTV, as well as a student design feature, a ‘made in BC’ complete living unit, a local design challenge, and the second annual installation of Designing Inside the Box.

From what began in 2004 as Design Vancouver, IDSwest has grown into one of the West Coast’s largest design events. Featuring some of the top architectural, interior, and landscape design firms in the country and numerous retailers showcasing quality products and services, the show provides a forum for both trade and consumers alike to explore design in a contemporary context through public workshops, presentations and innovative special features.

© Doug Edmunds Studio

2010 AIA Housing Award Recipient, this house is the careful reinvention of an existing, ill-conceived suburban production home at the end of its life cycle. This project challenges the ordinary but environmentally irresponsible tabula rasa approach – tear down and build bigger – and offers a sensible alternative, illustrating how the bones of a dysfunctional building can be reclaimed as the framework for a contemporary, precisely detailed dwelling. The project is a case study for a resource-conscious suburban renewal in a time of economic and ecological distress.