The Architect's Home - the architecture of brad lamoureux by Trent Rodney

The Architect’s House the architecture of brad lamoureux

Foreword I have wanted to be an architect for as long as I can remember. As a child, I was designing and building tree houses in our local ravine in Edmonton. At 14, I read an article in the Edmonton Journal on the architect Arthur Erickson entitled “Edifice Rex.” It chronicled his prolific career—still in midstream—and included several amazing West Coast residences, such as the MacMillan Bloedel Building, Simon Fraser University, and the Museum of Anthropology. I was hooked. For the next 13 years, my life revolved around architecture, taking me on an educational journey that included Montana State University, the University of Copenhagen, and eventually Harvard, where I earned a Masters in Architecture. After graduate school, an opportunity materialized with a firm in Taipei. I drove across the continent to Vancouver to obtain a work permit and arrived in January 1987, shortly after the conclusion of that iconic Expo. There was excitement in the air. Vancouver seemed to be a land of opportunity for a young architect. I met with an old friend who was developing projects at the time. Within a couple of years, I had opened an office. By 1993, I opened my solo office in

West Vancouver to pursue my passion for residential architecture. I never did make it to Taipei. Instead, I am living my dream in Vancouver. My practice has blossomed over the years to include 13 highly talented associates, and I’ve overseen the completion of hundreds of successful projects. I feel incredibly fortunate to practice architecture in this city, and, thinking back to that article, it makes sense that I landed here. Architects rarely get the opportunity to design their own homes. Perhaps they are too busy serving their clients, or fear meeting the toughest client of all—themselves. My wife and I have designed many renovation projects over the years and felt somewhat at ease with the thought of building a new home, from the ground up. When a property that took 17 years to negotiate finally became feasible, we broke land in 2015. It is a real joy to live here on one of the most beautiful properties that I have ever seen. I am so grateful. However, I continually redesign this home in my mind as our family’s needs and thoughts about the property continue to evolve. Perhaps this is the fate of being the architect of your own home... Brad Lamoureux, April 2021

The Architect’s House is... a collection of dreams and passions, condensed into structure. A whole career of influences, decisions, techniques, coalesced in the home where the architect sleeps and lives. Memories of an article read as a child come to the surface. On a cliffside in West Vancouver, the home looks out at the bustling city, the ships coming and going, and the gentle movement of clouds over the sparkling Burrard Inlet which connects Vancouver to the Salish Sea and, eventually, to the Pacific Ocean itself. The house reflects what came before it: the previous owner asked that the new structure be built around his own home as he lived out his days on the property, a request which the design respects, a respect that carries over to the unique and challenging response to the topography of the land. The human and geological past is traced in Lamoureux’s home. Nothing less than an unconventional approach was required to attend to these demands and to maximize the views of the ocean, the rocky outcrops, and the trees.

The design parti is an “L” shape grafted onto the granite, with the shorter linear element representing the living spaces that extend downwards into the lower floor of the house, mirroring the face of the bluff. The garage, walkway, and master suite anchor the house in the longest horizontal linear element which sits atop the bluff. That the house stretches along the natural topography in multiple directions represents a functional spreading to maximize light as well as to commune with the landscape, non-invasively. This copper-clad home lays on the landscape in cool serenity. In the afternoon, sun and clouds move past the circular cutout in the patio cover. It’s like a window to the heavens. It shows how geometry can complement nature, how it can become a window to the beauty of things that are around us. It filters through like inspiration, leaving shadows on the outdoor spaces where, in the spring, the architect’s family and friends gather and talk and cook. Something unusual happens when an architect builds his or her own home. Considerations take on a different tone and the project is one that, like family, never ends. Lamoureux talks about nights spent thinking about the home, of revisions. He doesn’t tell anyone of them; he sketches them quietly in the cool British Columbian night.

Balancing design & nature The winding neighborhoods of West Vancouver provide plenty of cover for the homes built there. Many, like the Architect’s House, sit up and away from the road on stoic cliffs. Forests and trails weave between the properties, creating a borderland between the density of the city and the thick-forested mountains to the north. From the busy road that runs beside the water below, the house is concealed by a rocky bluff that slopes down to the east and to the south so that, looking up from the road, one might only get the briefest sense of the structure. Instead of blasting the rock away, the building process involved grafting the structure directly onto the rock face. A long, curved driveway delays entrance to the property, totaling half an acre on the bluff. It’s impossible to know how the home will be until entering through the Corten steel gate and seeing the courtyard that is framed by the floor-to-ceiling glass of the entryway and main living areas of the upper floor. Walking through the garden towards the tall door requires a series of zigzagging turns around green space and a massive rock, and one must approach the door diagonally from the gate. Tension is important for how the home presents itself. Instead of appearing all at once, the home should unfold like a narrative told page by page, chapter by chapter.

This enigma lets the home tell its own story, slowly, in parts, so that the flow of discovery highlights the finely wrought details on their own time . . . the laser engraved door handles, the gentle course of the stream-like pool moving gently through the garden. The exterior copper cladding serves to naturalize the exterior. An ancient earthy material in an alpine environment, surrounded by towering trees, this copper has, over time, materialized an awesome patina of its full potential. The elements above and the breeze from below will continue to shift this colour: instead of turning green, it has gone a rich black shade in the salty air. The cladding itself is paneled in a way that gives the impression of natural armour furthering the organic references in the material palette. Rivets in the rear of the home facing the water add a touch of industrial modernity and a certain rawness to the overall effect of the house.

When

guests enter the home they are met immediately by art. A postmodern painting by artist Shawn Hunt presides over the grand piano in the entryway that looks out into the garden. Over the dining table a light fixture/sculpture made with thermo plastic and die-cast aluminum by Ross Lovegrove interacts with a brilliantly bright green piece of abstract geometric art. These touches of colour—continued in the bathroom that has a fuzzy, cowpoke theme—give modern personality to the ancient palettes of copper, stone, and wood.

In the dining room, art by Peter Schyuff.

Trans

parency Once you are inside the property, the use of glass opens lines of sight throughout the build, as if the home was made to heighten perception. The lines allow generous looks at the inner workings of the house. Balancing privacy and a sense of safety with a need for natural light, the exterior utilizes a tremendous amount of glazing for the north and south facing windows, creating a line of sight from the courtyard through the living room and out into the bay. Every cross-section of the house was meticulously designed to best complement the geography and to showcase the way the structure sits upon the hill. For the curious, once inside, the home will tell its story: it has nothing to hide. Lamoureux talks about the famous ocean view, something that any architect working in a coastal region must contend with. In the living room, however, the view of the treetops to the north was designed to rival that of the blue sea. Everywhere, there is glass. A reinforced glass bridge connects the garage—the point furthest back on top of the bluff—to the master suite, living and kitchen area, which extend into the generously art-adorned patio. Leading up to the dining and living areas, glass walkways appear again, giving visitors a look into the lower floors. This tectonic feature allows lines of sight clear through the floor into the glass-enclosed basalt wine cellar below that houses the ancient rock upon which the home is built.

Clerestory windows above the sea-facing living room wall bring in even more light and bring attention to the height of the room. Skylights throughout paint the ceilings and walls with natural light. From the dining room, facing away from the water, the view of the garden merges with the living space. That the living area is intermingled visually with the garden is no accident. Lamoureux wanted the home to not just be defined by its proximity to the water; he wanted it like a garden on a cliffside, completely immersed in the flow and trickle of the proximate garden pools as well as the sounds of tugboats and waves lapping against the shoreline below. 24

Shawn Hunt’s painting (right) greets guests upon entry.

absence of the previous house where the The courtyard is now shows a considerate design that turns

negatives into positives through accommodation. Themes of regrowth and gentleness in the greenery, in the flowing water of the pond, attend to these plays of absences and presences. The home accommodates the landscape and its history just as it does guests and the architect’s family who share the house. Another constant companion in the house are the outcroppings of rocks, around which the house was moulded in construction, that one must walk around when entering through the courtyard. Under the glass bridge that connects the garage to the rest of the structure, the rock formation cascades from the courtyard down the easterly slope. On the bridge, guests can see the West Coast foliage, the ferns and Salal. Yet another noteworthy stone that plays with the structure emerges from the bottom of the house, in the translucent wine cellar. The home was built around it. A beige bulk of granite, it hints at the ancientness of the surroundings and the sophistication of the structure.

Conne

ction

Lamoureux

wanted the rock to not become a centerpiece but to express itself naturally in the house. It can also be seen via the through line of the other glass bridge that reveals the bottom floors and cellar. The grafting of the whole structure, where the living areas are in the top floor, means that the typical experience of ascending for personal space is inverted. On the bottom floors are an entertainment room, the cellar, and the bedrooms for the children, as well as access to the turquoise pool lined with handpicked paperbark maples.

Another noteworthy aspect of inversion is the ceiling in the primary living room on the upper floor. To have proper drainage during the rainy West Vancouver winters, as well as maximize the lines of sight through the windows, the ceiling was designed to slope internally downward so that while it appears flat from the outside, from the inside vaulted forms create dramatic shadows and further channel attention outward. This unusual construction is a mark of subtle structural ingenuity that pushes building codes to their limits, adding one more badge of singularity to this design.

“It works extremely well for our family. Our kids are getting older and they have an independent living level below.” Brad Lamoureux

Inver

sion.

“When you have a property with dimension, it’s interesting to set up tension and drama and let things unfold slowly.” Brad Lamoureux

Within the home are design

touches that call on Lamoureux’s attention to detail and the networks of local artisans and makers with which he works. Beautiful laser carved black walnut handles, set in the palatial glass front door, welcome guests with intricate elegance. A structural blackened steel wall fabricated by Martin Drabek lines the stairwell and abuts perpendicularly to the interior glass bridge. An imposing structure, it rises from the lower level into the

foyer. The dark texture of the steel complements the softer tones of the copper and the smoked white oak flooring. The kitchen offers one of the richer wood palettes in the house with smoked eucalyptus facing on the cabinets and around an island that is topped with a gorgeous slab of quartz. Stainless steel appliances and a sleek, flush stove element shine under the skylights. It is a median space between the master suite, the living room, and the patio. Lots of room is given between the surfaces so that multiple people can move between it at ease, and the location of an eating nook set off from the kitchen turns the room into a social space as opposed to one based fully in utility. The nook serves as a location for more intimate family meals and utilizes rich brown facing and upholstery, giving the impression of a comfy brasserie. The outdoor patios in the rear of the home are simple, supplementing the complex forms of the interior. Not wanting to compete with the ocean, the upper floor deck is spacious with an area for grilling and relaxing, while the lower pool deck leads into an insert with a firepit where Lamoureux’s children spend much of their time. The rear facade of the house has lighter

tones than the front, with white smooth sand stucco walls to further emphasize the copper and glass and to blend the home, if looking at it from the base of the cliff, into the space where the rock meets the sky. A mix of modern design, considerations of the family, and respect for the surroundings make this home one of a kind. Surprising in its details and homely in the feel, The Architect’s House stands out among West Vancouver homes as a masterpiece of harmony and a signifier of a long and gratifying career.

Brad Lamoureux is the founder and principal of Lamoureux Architect Incorporated. Brad provides overall design leadership for the firm and is personally involved with each project throughout its development. Brad is an eternal optimist with an inquisitive design mind. He enjoys working collaboratively with his clients and his talented team to produce innovative and original residential designs. Brad finds balance as an endurance athlete, regularly competing in triathlon and marathon races.

West Coast Modern meets the growing demand for exceptional living spaces of all kinds, including historic mid-century modern homes to contemporary new builds. We love selling houses, and we only sell houses that we love.

Trent Rodney pursues his passion for the crossover between architecture and commerce. He built a natural following of buyers and sellers of modern architectural properties. Trent has an unrivaled knowledge of the regions West Coast Modern houses, and carries out market appraisals of extraordinary properties in all corners of the city. His warm-hearted, conscientious approach is popular with clients. Trent is actively involved in the historic aspect of the architecture community and is involved with the Vancouver Heritage Foundation and West Vancouver Museum. Jason Choi was first introduced to our regions unique architectural style after personally saving a classic modern home in Horseshoe Bay. After the successful sale of the property to a new custodian he was hooked and has never stopped. His intellectual acuity is combined with an emotional intelligence that allows him to negotiate sales with grace and skill. Jason particularly responds to the human side of the property business, engaging with the stories and characters involved. Prior to joining West Coast Modern, he had a successful career in advertising working with such global brands as Unilever, Heineken, Adidas and Formula 1.

Written by Ben Dreith Key Photography by Ema Peter Supplementary Photography by Lamoureux Architect Inc. Book Design by Erika Solway