Nelson Residence

Burgers Architecture Inc

Short description

The design of a Net Zero, Passive House Certified, full-time, private residence for the firm’s principal architect (Cedric Burgers) his wife Mary (Creative Director of the firm) and two young daughters was completed in 2021. In the design and build of this hime, the Nelson Residence began eagerly to anticipate the city’s building code initiative which incrementally increases energy efficiency and culminates in mandatory passive certification for all new buildings within 10 years. Within the exploration of meeting stringent standards towards certification, the home became a deeper study into future living.

The rushing creek, protected old growth trees, working vegetable garden and fruit orchard create dependent bonds between the home and its stewards of the land, a daily sensory and exploratory relationship that goes past the technical requirements of sustainable living while maintaining architectural integrity.

Situated in West Vancouver, BC, the home is situated on a creek with headwaters from the top of Cypress Mountain. The property has a unique rushing waterway that acts as a green corridor for wildlife; its lush vegetation also provides privacy and cooling. Preserving the site’s natural condition was integral and necessary to begin the design process and permitting.

Challenge of Site:

The topography demanded remediation of the creek’s riparian zone to return its embankments to a natural state and remove all invasive plant species and hard surfaces. Sloping steeply from north to south, the design response is a layered, multi-level home connected to the property at each of its three floors, with a large courtyard in the center. The courtyard is bordered to the west by a solar heated swimming pool, black tiles to mimic the reflective black pools bordered by granite slabs and overhung with alpine vegetation, appearing as apertures to another world below their mirrored surfaces.

Layout of Home:

On its lowest level, the house contains a secondary suite, parking, media room, and storage spaces. This level also connects to a working garden and orchard containing apple trees and hardy plums, pears, figs and peaches. The main floor is a fluid system of living spaces (living room, dining room, kitchen, power room, study) that connect to the courtyard and pool, apple orchard, and at its heart, a wood burning fireplace to gather. The upper floor is for private spaces/bedrooms each with their own ensuite bathrooms. The lower and upper floors offer private spaces for retreat, and although away from the fluid, open nature of the main floor to the creek and forest, offer views to embrace its still, natural environment with floor to ceiling windows in every room.

Performance, Construction and Cost:

Costs were analyzed in detail prior to commitment to construction drawings. Several key initiatives were adopted:
• Elimination of CLT construction in favor of standard wood frame construction.
• Commitment to low cost but durable polished concrete flooring throughout

For the performance side, in addition to the very restrictive 5 Passive house requirements (of 1) super insulated envelopes, 2) airtight construction, 3) high performance glazing, 4) thermal-bridge-free detailing, and 5) heat recovery ventilation), there were other initiatives that were undertaken that further honed the home’s performance.

• Elimination of generalized hydronic heating. Local electric in floor heat in bathrooms for comfort
• Direct import and certification of certified oak passive windows from Slovenia
• commitment to elimination of ducted heating and cooling. Instead, the HRV lines serve also as distribution for the HVAC. The extensive network of 3” tubes is sufficient to distribute the very low heating and cooling loads.
• Use of high-load EPS foam in lieu of XPS foam under slab and outside of foundation walls. EPS foam (white foam) needs to be 20% thicker to obtain the same R-Value as XPS foam, which required digging deeper for the raft slab, but the cost savings offset the extra digging.

The challenge that evolved was not in the checklist of Passive House technical requirements, but how to effectively materialize such a high-performance building while creating opportunities for the family to orient themselves towards a deeper connection and appreciation of nature.

In the end, the Nelson Residence is a high-performance house of the future that feels familial and inviting.