Exposed wood on the ceiling plane matches the posts and beams. Wood planking penetrates the glazing to run out on the underside of the eaves and if the interior walls have planking the same detail appears on the outside of thin walls. Exteriors are usually wood siding or shingle or stucco with robust wood trim. Roofs can be tar and gravel if low pitched or flat. Cedar shake or shingle as well as asphalt appear on steeper pitched roofs.
From http://docomomo.ca/bc-2000/type/houses/copp/photos.html: “The Copp house is one of Ron Thom’s earliest and best houses and is an icon of West Coast residential design. Basing the design on Frank Lloyd Wright’s early Usonian houses, Thom inventively elevated the bedroom wing to beautifully integrate the house into the steeply sloping site. A wide red-brick chimney anchors the composition’s cross-axes; extensive natural plantings further merge the house into the site. Cedar walls are stained a dark brown colour inside and out and are accented with a red colour inspired by West Coast native art. Living areas look across English Bay to the North Shore mountains through a window-wall entirely glazed between the posts and beams, the large fireplace forming a cozy focal point in cold, wet weather. Southern light filters into the house from clerestory windows. Built for less than $15,000, the Copp house won a Massey Silver Medal in 1952. In 1957 Thom added a western wing containing an additional bedroom and a recreation room. Still owned by the Copp family, the house remains virtually original inside and out and includes Thom’s custom-designed furniture.”
From Canada's Historic Places: "Designed by Charles E. Pratt (Ned) and built in 1947, the Saba Residence at 2870 W 47th Ave is an early and important example of West Coast Modern Style, a design movement of the 1940s. A significant figure in the modern architecture movement in Canada, Pratt also designed the War Memorial Gym at UBC (1951) and the B.C. Hydro Building (1955-57), now called the Electra Building. Saba Residence is a two storey, wood-frame rectangular home with post and beam framing. Typical of West Coast Modern style, Saba Residence is well integrated into the landscape, with the front entrance removed from the street. Modest and untreated materials, an open floorplan, a flat stepped shed roof, exposed stairs, and a strong link between interior and exterior spaces are all West Coast Modern aspects of this house. The house also features floor to ceiling windows, clapboard siding, and the main floor living space on a grade. The Saba family moved to the west coast in the 1880s from Lebanon, first to Nanaimo, before settling in Vancouver. In 1903, brothers Mike and Alexander Saba opened the Saba Brothers store on West Hastings, and by 1940 they were the largest silk retailer in the province, and opened a new store on Granville Street in 1947. Saba Residence was built for Alexander’s son Clarence, who later managed the business with his brothers."
From Canada's Historic Places: "This 1958 award winning home is an unusual use of the International Style in the design of a West Coast house. It is also believed to be the first home in Canada built by the ‘lift-slab’ technique: all slabs poured on the ground, one on top of the other then lifted up the steel columns and into place by individually controlled hydraulic motors. Kenneth Gardner, who built this as his personal residence, specialized in the design of apartment buildings and pioneers the use of lift-slab construction in Vancouver."
From http://docomomo.ca/bc-2000/type/houses/copp/photos.html: “The Copp house is one of Ron Thom’s earliest and best houses and is an icon of West Coast residential design. Basing the design on Frank Lloyd Wright’s early Usonian houses, Thom inventively elevated the bedroom wing to beautifully integrate the house into the steeply sloping site. A wide red-brick chimney anchors the composition’s cross-axes; extensive natural plantings further merge the house into the site. Cedar walls are stained a dark brown colour inside and out and are accented with a red colour inspired by West Coast native art. Living areas look across English Bay to the North Shore mountains through a window-wall entirely glazed between the posts and beams, the large fireplace forming a cozy focal point in cold, wet weather. Southern light filters into the house from clerestory windows. Built for less than $15,000, the Copp house won a Massey Silver Medal in 1952. In 1957 Thom added a western wing containing an additional bedroom and a recreation room. Still owned by the Copp family, the house remains virtually original inside and out and includes Thom’s custom-designed furniture.”
From Canada's Historic Places: "Designed by Charles E. Pratt (Ned) and built in 1947, the Saba Residence at 2870 W 47th Ave is an early and important example of West Coast Modern Style, a design movement of the 1940s. A significant figure in the modern architecture movement in Canada, Pratt also designed the War Memorial Gym at UBC (1951) and the B.C. Hydro Building (1955-57), now called the Electra Building. Saba Residence is a two storey, wood-frame rectangular home with post and beam framing. Typical of West Coast Modern style, Saba Residence is well integrated into the landscape, with the front entrance removed from the street. Modest and untreated materials, an open floorplan, a flat stepped shed roof, exposed stairs, and a strong link between interior and exterior spaces are all West Coast Modern aspects of this house. The house also features floor to ceiling windows, clapboard siding, and the main floor living space on a grade. The Saba family moved to the west coast in the 1880s from Lebanon, first to Nanaimo, before settling in Vancouver. In 1903, brothers Mike and Alexander Saba opened the Saba Brothers store on West Hastings, and by 1940 they were the largest silk retailer in the province, and opened a new store on Granville Street in 1947. Saba Residence was built for Alexander’s son Clarence, who later managed the business with his brothers."
From Canada's Historic Places: "This 1958 award winning home is an unusual use of the International Style in the design of a West Coast house. It is also believed to be the first home in Canada built by the ‘lift-slab’ technique: all slabs poured on the ground, one on top of the other then lifted up the steel columns and into place by individually controlled hydraulic motors. Kenneth Gardner, who built this as his personal residence, specialized in the design of apartment buildings and pioneers the use of lift-slab construction in Vancouver."
Click on the diagram or expand the term index to learn more about the features.
Cladding
Also referred to as siding, cladding is the outermost layer of the wall system, providing resistance to the natural elements and acting as a control device for drainage. Depending on the house style, various kinds of stucco, horizontal and vertical boards may be used as cladding. Types of cladding/siding: Board and Batten Clapboard Drop Lap Masonry Shakes Shingle Shiplap Stucco
Clerestory
A row of windows located near the top of the wall or touching the ceiling. A distinguishing feature of mid-century architecture.
Decorative Glazing
Stained, beveled, or leaded glass glazing that is separated by “cames” (slender grooved bars of lead) and which appears in windows and doors.
Masonry Cladding
A type of siding, the material of which consists of stone, brick, or construction block.
Form
West Coast Modern homes are simple, undecorated houses set at ground level with flat or low-pitched roofs that might contain a clerestorey. They have deep eaves and often open ceilings with exposed post-and-beam structure. Facades tend to be divided into panels of windows and stucco and wood, including plywood. Although some present an almost blank facade to the street, they typically have a seamless transition between interior space and garden, or wrap around a courtyard at the back.
Background
The West Coast Modern style developed from a modernist approach to suburban living and a rainforest climate. The style first appeared in Vancouver, Seattle and Portland in the 1930s. Architects in these regions drew inspiration from Frank Lloyd Wright’s architecture, the International Style, and Japanese residential design. They incorporated these elements into designs that responded to the climate, terrain and rainforest setting in which they worked. The result was a style of building, primarily domestic, with a close relationship to their individual sites. Some West Coast Modern buildings are built dramatically on the edges of cliffs. Others are close to the garden. They vary in shape and size but share principles of design.
Details
- Flat or low-pitched roofs that might contain clerestorey windows
- Set at ground level
- Simple and undecorated houses
- Deep eaves
- Facades divided into panels of windows
- Stucco and wood siding
- Often open ceilings with exposed post-and-beam structure