North Beach by Heliotrope Architects

For many years this area was a summer camp for the Lummi Indian, and due to its archaeological importance, could not do any digging. This location on a floodplain required to lift the structure. The design brief called for a very low impact, easy to maintain as a summer house and an advantage of the breathtaking views of the place. The answer is a structure among the trees locate between the beach and grass, with glass walls on both sides. Ensuring the possibility of shelter in the wings – which have the most private areas – was generated experience almost complete openness to the environment, minimizing the structure and making it disappear from view. Steel pillars minimize the structure visible from the inside, while the wood gives a boldly shear when viewed from the outside. It also raised the slab to avoid excavation and foundations were built to minimize the footprint. The roof vegetation, which filters the rain water and in turn collects. This is stored for use in watering gardens and flushing toilets. The hot water and heating hydronic and are supported by 90 tubes collectors on the roof and a solar panel system 4 kw, which provides additional electricity. The house is intended to be occupied from May to October, and the systems are designed to zero the electricity consumption over a full year. Heliotrope Architects received an Award of Merit – Merit Award – 2009 AIA Honor Awards for Washington Architecture – for this project.