| 
There’s a great paradox in the Okanagan: the very elements that attract throngs of tourists to the area every summer—the blazing light and heat—result in a knee-jerk reaction to build airtight homes with small windows, to help keep air conditioning bills in line. “Essentially what you are building is a fridge!” bemoans architect Cedric Burgers of Vancouver-based RBA Architects.
But when the right client comes along, that paradigm can be turned on its head. This Burgers-designed Summerland residence (Cedric was the architect, Marieke Burgers the lead designer) is a 4,500-square-foot modernist statement that beautifully harmonizes an Okanagan dwelling with its stunning natural setting.
“A lot of the design simply came about as strategies to get away from air conditioning,” explains Burgers. A wafer-like metal roof with generous overhangs provides shade while allowing indirect light through floor-to-ceiling windows and sliding glass-panel walls. “The biggest factor in keeping the house both open and naturally cool is how the glass panels in the front and back of the house open up completely, creating one open-air pavilion breezeway of the kitchen, dining and living room on the main floor.” Bubbling fountains at the entrance door chill the hot winds that come down from the hillsides, moving moist, cool air throughout the house to meet with breezes from the lakeside. Thick concrete walls and durable, low-maintenance grey basalt floor tiles moderate temperatures by absorbing the heat of the day and radiating warmth back at night.
A central patio, tiled in the same basalt found indoors, extends out from the main-floor pavilion, punctuated at the far end with a gas-fuelled rock fire pit. A glass canopy floats on light grey steel beams above the al fresco polished-cement dining table, the preferred location to enjoy a glass of Blue Mountain pinot noir with friends and watch the day melt into evening.
On more subdued evenings, the crowd—weary from a day of jet-skiing, boating or beach volleyball on the private full-sized court—gathers in the high-tech home theatre as the projector and movie screen descend into the living room with the touch of a button. But more often than not, Okanagan wine-soaked dinner parties spontaneously erupt around the nearly seven-metre, marble-topped curving kitchen island and the Al Forno woodburning oven (complete with rotisserie spit). And the next bottle is never far from hand, with a glass-fronted wine cellar storing 1,000 bottles in the adjacent dining room, lit by a canary yellow Murano glass Italian chandelier.
When the party winds down, two spacious suites with private bathrooms await guests on the upper level. A landing crosses over to the owner’s refuge, a sleeping wing featuring a living room, fireplace and a balcony overlooking the lake. An adjoining spa-like sanctuary of curved open shower and candlelit soaker tub takes advantage of the mountain views and delicate blossom and fruit-scented breezes from nearby Summerland orchards.
See SOURCES.
|
| |
|
Anatomy of a Room:
Venting the kitchen was tricky. The fans needed to be perfectly balanced so they wouldn’t suck smoke into the room from the wood-burning oven.
One wall is covered in blackboard paint: the homeowner wanted to be able to write the menus on the wall for his guests, café-style.
Basalt tiles run throughout the main floor. After months of searching, designer Marieke Burgers had a eureka moment choosing this material, tough enough to line cobblestone paths in her native Holland.
The curving island and wide counters maximize the area available for guests to spread out, while the chef’s side is compact, with everything, including utensils, in easy reach.
Glass tiles create a lantern effect on the island; indirect lighting makes the structure glow at night.
The 48-inch range is paired with a 24-inch wok burner. Burgers custom-designed the 72-inch vent overhead to fit the oversized work area.
There are three faucets: a pot filler right behind the stove, this bar sink and a gooseneck faucet on the back counter.
Everything in the home is wired to be activated by the owner’s cellphone as he’s arriving on the property: fountains, fires, lighting can be turned on before he sets foot on site.
The Al Forno wood-fired oven was inspired by architect Cedric Burgers’ stay in Tuscany: the kitchen in his 200-year-old farmhouse centred around an enormous fireplace.
The room is designed “theatre-style”: the homeowner loves
to entertain his guests while he preps the food, turns the roast on a spit or cracks open a bottle of wine.
|
|
|
