Throughout the project, the concrete comprising
the floors and walls is “absolutely a work of art,”
the owner says, crediting the skills of building
company Dürfeld Constructors and of concrete
contractors BMak Construction.
The heavy walls are pierced by windows that care-
fully frame views of the woods and sky. “You feel as
though you’re in the earth,” Gort says, “and then you
ascend to the living space above.” That living space –
as in that early pencil sketch – is an in-between zone.
It has a poured-concrete floor and a low ceiling lined
with slender oak battens; its internal topography steps
up, via a concrete stair accented with a polished brass
handrail, from a lower and grander kitchen and dining
area to a living room.
The latter space has a lower ceiling, which creates
a sense of compression, but it also has two glass walls
that look north and south (opening up views of the
lake and of Whistler) and a clerestory “lantern” above.
At the opposite end of the complex, a two-bedroom
guest house sits atop a garage, with its own private
views to the landscape.
This composition makes the house read as a col-
lection of distinct objects. “Like a piece of sculpture,
it asks you to reconsider the context,” says Gort.
The house and guest house are each clad in a mix of
board-formed concrete and black-stained wood;
the dark wood is hemlock, the same species as the
predominant trees on the site, “and it recalls the
shadows you get within the evergreen forests there.”RIGHT: A slatted wood
floor and bench anchor
an open Asian-style
bathroom. Simple lines
and a mix of materials
are characteristic of Gort
Scott’s work.
5542
361119 318810671- Bedroom
- Hallway
- Kitchen
4. Living/dining area
5. Garage
6. Study
7. Music room
8. Bathroom
9. Pantry
10. Gym
11. Swimming pool
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