Lightbox

Designed as a home and studio for a photographer and his young family, this project is located on a densely forested site on a peninsula that extends south from British Columbia across the border to Point Roberts. A south-facing two-story glass cage for living captures the sun and view as it celebrates the interplay of light and shadow in the forest. To the north, stairs are contained in a thin, black-stained wooden box with narrow apertures. The home was made decidedly modest, in size and means, with a building skin utilizing simple materials in a straightforward yet innovative configuration. The result is a structure crafted from affordable and common materials, such as exposed wood beams that form the structural frame and directly support a prefabricated aluminum window system of standard glazing units, uniformly sized to reduce the complexity and overall cost.