Sooke 01 House

Sooke 01 House
© Ema Peter
Sooke 01 House
© Ema Peter

Sooke 01 House

Campos Studio

ARCHITECTS
Campos Studio

DESIGN TEAM
Javier Campos, Czarina Ray, Alix Demontrond

ENGINEERING
Equilibrium Consulting

CONTRACTOR
Paul Clarkston

MANUFACTURERS
Duravit, Marvin, Ashley Norton, Standing Seam

MILLWORK
Nigel Macmillan

PHOTOGRAPHS
Ema Peter

YEAR
2018

AREA
1480 ft²

CATEGORY
Houses

LOCATION
Sooke, Canada

Text description provided by architect.

The Sooke house, made for a woman and her dog sits on a rocky knoll where the forest meets the sea. A small clearing nestled among the trees upon the knoll provides slices of ocean and mountains through the trunks of the large Pacific Northwest rainforest.

Sooke 01 House
© Ema Peter
Sooke 01 House
© Ema Peter
Sooke 01 House
© Ema Peter

These fractured and partial perceptions of the forest and its surroundings gave us the inspiration to design a house that framed discreet experiences; as a way to make present the maxim that you cannot see the forest through the trees.

After camping on the site, the design team drew inspiration from being in the forest and eschewed the traditional impetus to place a house on the edge of the forest looking out into the ocean.

The rocky knoll at the high point of the site emerged as the natural place that organized the site. It was the place where everyone congregated to observe and socialize.

Sooke 01 House
© Ema Peter
Sooke 01 House
© Ema Peter
Sooke 01 House
© Ema Peter

Recognized as such the decision was taken to leave this area intact and envelop it with the house.

The forest a series of Douglas Fir, Sitka Spruce and Cedars trunks supporting their foliage high up in the air became our inspiration for the tectonic of the house.

The house structure organized around one proportioned concrete column rising out of the floor mimics the trees' trunks in size and scale. This column, along with the wood stove pipe, recreate and integrate the house with the rhythm of the forest.

Sooke 01 House
© Ema Peter
Sooke 01 House
© Ema Peter
Sooke 01 House
© Ema Peter

When one looks up from the forest floor one becomes aware of the protection provided by the large branches that spread from the trunks of the trees with the light filtering through the dense filigree of the needles.

The meandering ridge beam that branches along the main space supports a thin slat wood ceiling meant to evoke the canopy of these surrounding conifers.

The experience of the forest from the house was replicated in the house by organizing each space around a different abstracted view of the landscape.

Sooke 01 House
© Ema Peter
Sooke 01 House
© Ema Peter

A series of forest vistas through each room present different aspects of the forest, to views of the trunks, tree canopy, shoreline, ocean, and mountains.

This not only serves to recreate the all-encompassing forest experience but also to create a unique environment for each space in the house. A technique that creates a rich variety for a small house in the woods.

Sooke 01 House
© Ema Peter


Sooke 01 House
North elevation
Sooke 01 House
South elevation
Sooke 01 House
East elevation
Sooke 01 House
West elevation
Sooke 01 House
Section
Sooke 01 House
Section


Sooke 01 House
Floor plan
Sooke 01 House
reflected ceiling plan
Sooke 01 House
Sooke 01 House