The design brief for the project highlighted called for a low impact, low maintenance summer home that augments its surroundings. Heliotrope Architects responded with this AIA award winning masterpiece made almost entirely of floor to ceiling windows to augment the mature fir trees, beautiful coastline, and sprawling meadow that surround this Orcas Island, Washington home.

The overall layout of this 2,400 square foot structure creates a spacious feeling that is markedly open on the inside and functional in the way that it utilizes non-windowed walls with floor to ceiling built in shelves when applicable. While achieving both form and function, this home remains incredibly welcoming of its surroundings. Steel columns increase visibility from the inside while metal-clad wall elements provide a bold form for onlookers who will witness a bold, contemporary structure from the outside.

Designed not only to highlight the landscape but also to be environmentally friendly, Heliotrope constructed this home to zero out its own electricity use over the course of a year. The vegetated roof garden filters collected rainwater that’s later used for irrigation while PV panels above the garden supply supplemental electricity. Potable hot water and hydronic heating are aided by solar collectors installed on the roof, making for a summer home that’s both environmentally friendly and absolutely stunning.

Posted by Lauren Proctor at 13 August, 2010

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