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Glass Box Dining Room Cantilevers Out Towards Cedar Forest

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A coastal home in West Vancouver, British Columbia by Splyce Design features an entirely glassed-in box that cantilevers out towards the surrounding forest.

The site was long and narrow, and footprint requirements precluded expanding the foundation to the side closer to the forest.

So the architect solved the resulting too-narrow footprint by cantilevering several rooms back out to the side.

The result is like leaning sideways over the forest floor to capture the water views.

The reflective flooring of polished concrete further captures the native creekside vegetation, as if the diners are suspended within the forest.

Now the remaining house footprint has some width, preventing what could have been claustrophobic.

Even when facing into the house, the forest is right there, reflected back though full-size mirrors and floor to ceiling glazing.

Some beautiful details include a stone bench providing continuity wall to wall.

It visually connects a pure cylinder used as a wash basin, an embedded toilet seat, while providing seating in the shower and in the drying area beyond it.

A similar cylinder washbasin in another bathroom appears fed by a tap suspended in the forest.

A bedroom in the back offers views down the side of the house by sharing them with the front deck.

A wall to wall skylight over the stairs brings the joy of a huge wash of sunlight over the viewer descending from the bedrooms upstairs to the main floor.

Bedrooms towards the back of the house are set along a walkway through the mature cedar and douglas fir to the side.

With portions of the main and upper floors cantilevered back out past the foundation, the native creekside vegetation can grow up, under and around as an uninterrupted, wild, forest floor.

What a wonderful and light-filled home, that maximizes its forest setting.