Omer Arbel Office has designed a cedar house with sandblasted planks that evoke stacked lumber, elevating it above a gully on a waterfront property in British Columbia.

The 300-m² (3,200-sf) 91.0 house (also known as Bridge House) sits on a steep, 1.2-ha (3-acre) site on Galiano Island.

The site anticipates rising water levels due to climate change, causing potential flooding of the gully.

To access the house, occupants and visitors cross a forested pathway to reach an embedded front entrance.

The entry opens to a corridor with a window seat overlooking the fern gully below.

The material palette refocuses attention on the surrounding forest and evokes a geological quality. The studio developed a cedar-cladding system in which the end grain was sandblasted to evoke the appearance of stacked lumber.

Sandblasting the cedar end grain achieved a high-contrast surface that is highly responsive to natural sunlight.

The wooden textures continue in the interior of the house with layers of painted wooden battens, Douglas fir strips and walnut shelving for the walls and cabinets, while the ceiling is stained, sandblasted cedar.