Architects Build Sustainability Into an Island Vacation Compound
Project priorities included reducing the carbon footprint, improving shoreline health and creating energy efficiency
We recently profiled this family vacation camp in Washington state’s San Juan Islands. The property has a large main lodge house and 10 cabins for extended family and friends. Our story concentrated on the design of the new main house, but here we’ll take a deeper look into the sustainable aspects of the project. The new house and landscaping were crafted with the aim of reducing the carbon footprint during construction, creating a healthy environment, improving the fish habitat and building in energy efficiency. Read on for details about the siting, materials, systems and space planning that addressed these goals.
Shoreline Improvement
This photo shows the new grading, a gently sloped great lawn shared by the main lodge and the cabins. The grading allowed the team to replace an old creosote bulkhead along the shoreline with a much healthier alternative: a beach.
Once rid of the bulkhead, the designers worked to protect the beach and the shoreline. The grass of the great lawn is a meadow grass seed mix that’s hardy in this setting and doesn’t require much water after establishment. All the plants at the shoreline are native. “The owners are very rigorous about not allowing harmful chemicals such as pesticides on the property, especially the lawn where everyone is playing and rolling around in the grass,” Donovan says.
There’s a stone wall where the lawn meets the bowl shape of the shoreline. “The wall is the primary defense against runoff, and there is an underground ‘cutoff drain’ on the uphill side that channels water into a stormwater catch basin down on the beach,” Donovan says.
The new beach includes beach nourishment rocks and sand at the shoreline to improve the forage fish habitat. Part of that work was completed with a Salmon Recovery Grant administered by Friends of the San Juans. The family has enjoyed watching the fish return to the new, healthier habitat. “It was fascinating to see how the beach repopulated with driftwood after it was regraded and the new beach nourishment rocks and sand were installed,” Donovan says.
This photo shows the new grading, a gently sloped great lawn shared by the main lodge and the cabins. The grading allowed the team to replace an old creosote bulkhead along the shoreline with a much healthier alternative: a beach.
Once rid of the bulkhead, the designers worked to protect the beach and the shoreline. The grass of the great lawn is a meadow grass seed mix that’s hardy in this setting and doesn’t require much water after establishment. All the plants at the shoreline are native. “The owners are very rigorous about not allowing harmful chemicals such as pesticides on the property, especially the lawn where everyone is playing and rolling around in the grass,” Donovan says.
There’s a stone wall where the lawn meets the bowl shape of the shoreline. “The wall is the primary defense against runoff, and there is an underground ‘cutoff drain’ on the uphill side that channels water into a stormwater catch basin down on the beach,” Donovan says.
The new beach includes beach nourishment rocks and sand at the shoreline to improve the forage fish habitat. Part of that work was completed with a Salmon Recovery Grant administered by Friends of the San Juans. The family has enjoyed watching the fish return to the new, healthier habitat. “It was fascinating to see how the beach repopulated with driftwood after it was regraded and the new beach nourishment rocks and sand were installed,” Donovan says.
Materials
The designers sourced materials from as close by as possible. “We purposefully selected stone from Northwest sources to avoid the shipment of such heavy materials from overseas,” Donovan says. Sourcing other materials from the region helped decrease the carbon footprint of shipping while enhancing the feeling that the architecture was of the place. Fir trees that had to be cut down during construction were milled into ceiling beams for the house.
As much as possible, they avoided using materials on the Living Building Challenge Red List. The list contains the worst-in-class materials prevalent in the building industry. “It wasn’t feasible to avoid them in every circumstance, but with the use of cast iron and HDPE piping, polyisocyanurate insulation, no-added-urea-formaldehyde wood products and other alternatives, we eliminated many of these materials,” Donovan says.
The designers sourced materials from as close by as possible. “We purposefully selected stone from Northwest sources to avoid the shipment of such heavy materials from overseas,” Donovan says. Sourcing other materials from the region helped decrease the carbon footprint of shipping while enhancing the feeling that the architecture was of the place. Fir trees that had to be cut down during construction were milled into ceiling beams for the house.
As much as possible, they avoided using materials on the Living Building Challenge Red List. The list contains the worst-in-class materials prevalent in the building industry. “It wasn’t feasible to avoid them in every circumstance, but with the use of cast iron and HDPE piping, polyisocyanurate insulation, no-added-urea-formaldehyde wood products and other alternatives, we eliminated many of these materials,” Donovan says.
They also repurposed materials that otherwise would have wound up in the landfill. This included salvaged materials such as snow fencing, which was used on the walls throughout the first floor, and a steel buoy that was converted into an outdoor pizza oven. And they sourced FSC-certified wood products as much as possible.
Durability was a big factor in the choice of materials — the house was built to last and to take a beating. Stone sourced from British Columbia and end-grain wood cover the floors in the high-traffic public areas. Dings from bikes and toys only enhance the weathered appeal of the snow-fencing-turned-walls.
Durability was a big factor in the choice of materials — the house was built to last and to take a beating. Stone sourced from British Columbia and end-grain wood cover the floors in the high-traffic public areas. Dings from bikes and toys only enhance the weathered appeal of the snow-fencing-turned-walls.
Systems
The house has a tight envelope — 2 inches of rigid insulation outside the wall sheathing and 4 inches of rigid insulation above the roof sheathing. Geothermal wells under the lawn supply the radiant floor heating system in the main house and one of the cabins. A 20-kilowatt solar array on one of the cabins feeds power back into the grid.
The house has a tight envelope — 2 inches of rigid insulation outside the wall sheathing and 4 inches of rigid insulation above the roof sheathing. Geothermal wells under the lawn supply the radiant floor heating system in the main house and one of the cabins. A 20-kilowatt solar array on one of the cabins feeds power back into the grid.
Efficient Use of Space
The rooms in the main lodge are right-sized, meaning the designers specifically planned the public spaces to accommodate the large groups the family anticipates without wasting space. This kept the home’s footprint smaller. There are four bedrooms, including this efficient bunk room that sleeps eight and has enough built-in storage for clothing and gear.
The rooms in the main lodge are right-sized, meaning the designers specifically planned the public spaces to accommodate the large groups the family anticipates without wasting space. This kept the home’s footprint smaller. There are four bedrooms, including this efficient bunk room that sleeps eight and has enough built-in storage for clothing and gear.
Other spaces, like the master bedroom, seen here, were modestly scaled but feel more expansive than they are because of good design — pleasing proportions, well-placed windows and doors and a vaulted ceiling. This room was planned for fresh-air sleeping: The bed is on casters so the homeowners can roll it out onto the balcony.
The designers also worked in cozy spaces within the larger rooms, such as this reading nook in the living room, which has a twin mattress that can accommodate an extra overnight guest.
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House at a Glance
Who lives here: A large extended family uses this as a vacation gathering spot
Location: San Juan Islands, Washington
Size: The main lodge has three bedrooms, a bunk room that sleeps eight and 4½ bathrooms. There are also 10 cabins scattered around the property.
Designers: DeForest Architects (architecture), NB Design Group (interior design), Allworth Design (landscape architecture)
Siting
After weighing the remodeling of the existing main lodge versus rebuilding it in a new spot, rebuilding won out for several important reasons. The original house had been constructed in piecemeal fashion; it had an awkward and sprawling layout with vast, unwelcoming rooms; it wasn’t energy-efficient; it contained unhealthy materials; and it was located a few feet from the shoreline. The new house was built sustainably and farther from the shore, and it has a smaller footprint and a more functional floor plan.
The architects helped the family reclaim and reuse whatever it could from the original home. And demolition provided the opportunity to properly dispose of unhealthy materials such as lead paint and asbestos. They also removed all the creosote-coated wood on the the property for proper disposal. (Creosote is full of nasty chemicals that contaminate soil, plants and water.)
The health of the shoreline was a big priority. While legally the existing house could have been remodeled on its original site near shore, that was less than ideal as new homes are no longer allowed to be built so close to the water. Rebuilding allowed the main lodge to be sited 200 feet from shore. “And rebuilding the house on the same site as the original house wouldn’t have allowed for the new grading,” project architect Rosie Donovan says.