Sitting lightly upon a forested knoll overlooking the Soo Valley in British Columbia?s Coast Mountains, Perkins and Will?s performance-led project  is not a typical alpine home.

Designed for Vancouver-based developer, Delta Land Development, the home is a prototype for low-energy systems, healthy materials, and prefabricated and modular construction methods intended to inform larger projects.
Photo courtesy of Perkins and Will
With Delta Group?s intention to pioneer a future zero emissions approach to building, Perkins and Will designed a prototype that demonstrates a unique approach to building off-grid in a remote environment where every choice has consequences.

The home expresses a restrained material palette while generating more energy than it uses, eliminating fossil fuels and combustion from its operation. Challenging conventions in both aesthetics and construction, the prototype acts as a testing ground for low-energy systems, healthy materials, prefabricated and modular construction methods, and independent operations intended to inform the approach to larger projects such as Canada?s Earth Tower.
A Passive House certified building, wood was chosen as the primary structural material and is authentically expressed and exposed in its entirety throughout the home?a ?temple to douglas fir?.
Photo courtesy of Perkins and Will
Given the valley?s extreme climate, the design team knew it was critical to have an ?enclosure-first? approach to ensure energy effici...