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Openspace Architecture designed a 7,000-square-foot, three-storey home on a historic West Vancouver site above the oceanfront, using glass, wood and concrete to connect it with its surroundings. The project combines a cantilevered upper floor and broad glazing with structural and energy-performance demands; details such as permits, cost and construction timing were not provided in the source report.
Openspace Architecture’s 7,000-square-foot home in West Vancouver is designed to appear to float among the trees, using long horizontal forms and extensive glass to set the surrounding landscape at the center of the residence. The three-storey project, featured by Design Milk, occupies a historic site above the oceanfront and brings a strongly contemporary design to property that once included a farmhouse.
The home was designed for two empty nesters seeking a long-term residence, according to Design Milk. Its principal floor contains an open-plan living room, dining area and kitchen, with floor-to-ceiling glazing and sliding doors that connect the interior to a pool terrace and outdoor dining area. The broad, horizontal layout follows the site, while the upper storey projects out over the main floor.
The upper level contains four bedrooms; the primary suite sits on a separate lower level with access to a garden. A manufactured stream runs past that suite, the report says, providing sound when its sliding doors are open. The layout and landscape features are part of a design that emphasizes views and connections between indoor and outdoor spaces.
Materials include board-formed concrete, cedar, hemlock and oak. The concrete was cast against wooden planks to leave their grain and texture visible, while the walls incorporate rigid-foam thermal breaks, according to the report. CNC-milled ribs in the hemlock ceilings align with lights, speakers and sprinklers. The architecture team tested 35 samples to settle on the deep walnut ceiling stain, Design Milk reported.
A Contemporary Design for a Historic Site
The project shows how a new residence can respond to a site with a long history without reproducing its earlier buildings. The original farmhouse, which dates to the property’s period as part of a landholding in the 1920s, had deteriorated too far to preserve, according to Design Milk. Openspace instead used transparency, natural materials and framed views to make the trees and landscape prominent in daily life.
The design also illustrates the practical demands behind a minimalist appearance. The report says the architects had to reconcile thin structural assemblies with seismic requirements and the need for a high-performance building envelope suited to the Canadian climate. That tension matters because the project’s light visual effect depends on technical choices that also address strength and thermal performance.
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The Property’s Earlier Farmhouse
The site’s documented history reaches back to the 1920s, when it belonged to one of West Vancouver’s original land barons and included a small farmhouse. Design Milk reports that the house had deteriorated beyond the point of preservation. The new residence therefore occupies a property with a surviving historical association, but the source does not describe the farmhouse’s precise location, architectural features or demolition date.
Openspace Architecture’s response was not to imitate the former building. Instead, its design uses glass, concrete and wood alongside custom-stained exterior cedar siding and louvers. The architects varied the stain combinations in response to expected light and shadow, according to senior associate Eric Pettit, linking the material choices to conditions on the particular site.
“The clients had a strong vision.”
— Eric Pettit, senior associate at Openspace Architecture, as quoted by Design Milk
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Project Details Not in the Report
The source does not state when the home was completed, its construction cost, the project’s permit history or whether it is currently for sale or occupied. It also does not provide engineering specifications, measured energy performance or details about how the project’s seismic design was tested. Those points should not be inferred from the architectural description.
The report describes the former farmhouse as too deteriorated to preserve but gives no further account of its condition or what happened to it. It also does not identify the exact site address. The available information is an architectural feature, not a municipal project record or independent technical review.
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No Further Milestone Reported
Design Milk’s account presents the home as an architectural project and does not identify a pending approval, construction phase or public event. No next milestone is specified in the source material. Further confirmation of completion dates, costs, permits or building performance would require information from the owners, Openspace Architecture or relevant municipal records.
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Key Questions
Where is the home?
The residence is in West Vancouver, British Columbia, on a historic site above the oceanfront. The source report does not give an exact address.
How large is the residence?
Design Milk describes it as a 7,000-square-foot, three-storey home.
What makes the house appear to float among the trees?
The design uses long horizontal forms, extensive glazing and a cantilevered upper floor. These features create a light visual profile and frame views of the surrounding trees; “float” is the report’s architectural description, not a literal claim.
What happened to the farmhouse that was on the property?
Design Milk reports that a small farmhouse dating to the property’s history in the 1920s had deteriorated too much to preserve. The report does not say when it was removed or give more detail about its condition.
What is not known about the project?
The source does not provide the home’s completion date, cost, permit history or measured energy performance. It also does not report a future project milestone.
Source: rss
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