Project Specs
| Location: | North Vancouver, British Columbia |
| Climate Zone: | Warm-Temperate |
| Building Type: | Single Family Residential |
| Project Phase: | Certified |
| Certification Type: | Passive House Classic |
| Year of Construction: | 2016 |
| Gross Floor Area (m2): | 295 |
| Treated Floor Area (m2): | 294.7 |
| PHPP Verification: | Download |
Project Description
The clients approached us to design and build an intergenerational residence to the Passive House Standard. The programming required that there be a dedicated living space for the grandparents within the main dwelling without separating it into a secondary suite. The 50’ (15.2m) by 150’ (45.7m) lot allowed an L-shaped configuration of the building footprint creating exterior as well as interior shared areas at the hinge point.
A strict budget of $250 per sqft together with achieving the Passive House requirements, demanded a disciplined design process for both the client and us, here are some feature points that allowed us to achieve these goals:
- Instead of a full height basement we opted for a 1m high mini basement that allows for storage and still adds some TFA (30%)
- Designing a structure that is efficient: simple platform framed, no long spans, no point loads etc. resulted in material cost savings
- The assembly chosen streamlined construction and reduced thermal bridging
- Penetrations through the exterior walls were minimized by placing exterior electrical sockets and hose bibs within the landscape rather the mounting them on the exterior wall
- Designing the window sizes with the majority at one standard width allowed for some efficiency on site
- Interior and exterior finishes were picked cost effectively without sacrificing quality and durability
