South Chesterman Beach Homes, 2000

• Constructed 2000
• Location Tofino, BC
• Architect
  Bo Helliwell, Kim Smith (Blue Sky Architecture)
• Use Multi-Family Residential

The South Chesterman Beach Homes sit at the edge of the wild Pacific Ocean on the otherworldly west coast of Vancouver Island. Built in 2000, this collection of townhomes was designed by Bo Helliwell and Kim Smith of Blue Sky Architecture. The project was conceived to house a mix of year-round and seasonal residents.

As individual and collective forms, the design conjures both the crashing waves of the Pacific, mere meters from the surfers’ paradise, and flocks of seabirds in flight overhead. The complex was laid out in a series of multi-dwelling clusters, around communal green spaces, and sited to allow ocean views for each of the 39 homes. The exterior is clad by cedar in many forms – board-and-batten, shingles, and trims – and accentuated by colours evoking the surrounding coastal fauna. The interiors echo the curved roof forms and reveal the hybrid structure of conventional framing and heavy timber utilizing raw Douglas fir logs and planed beams.

Equally important to the architecture was the planting of native species to aid in rehabilitating the previously logged site and the retention of natural wetlands to facilitate site drainage and maintain habit for local wildlife.