Discovery Bay House: A Model of Responsible Design

The geometric rigor of Discovery Bay House, designed by Dekleva Gregorič Architects, is a restrained, measured presence in the peaceful landscape of Washington State’s Pacific Northwest.

Surrounded by woodlands and overlooking the ocean, the residence is a light-filled, welcoming refuge that responds to human and environmental needs through careful design.

Discovery Bay House: A layered spatial narrative

The client brief from Michael Ross guided the initial design. From the formal perspective, he requested orthogonal lines and forms, while from the experiential point of view, he required a spacious plan to support daily life and accommodate friends and family.

From the brief, the studio developed the concept to create a spatial narrative through an orderly layering of living dynamics. On the first floor, the client’s daily life unfolds horizontally, with the vertical axis reserved for guests. This spatial grid gives shape to the interiors geometrically, while ensuring privacy and autonomy for all occupants.

A carbon-negative home

Overlooking Discovery Bay and with a south-facing orientation to the Olympic Mountains, the residence’s formal order pairs with an intimate connection to nature. A deep respect for nature informs the entire design. The result is a structure with a negative carbon footprint, achieved through actively sequestering carbon and sustainable construction techniques.

The home rests on a reinforced concrete slab designed to blend with the gently sloping terrain rather than flatten it. From the base rises a three-dimensional structural grid of Douglas fir posts and beams that defines the building’s orthogonal framework, while also serving as a tactile and visual element.

Wood sets the scene and defines the residence throughout, both reducing environmental impact and producing a warm, material-driven aesthetic.

The warmth of wood and connection to nature

Fastened with exposed screws to create a craft-inspired aesthetic, birch-ply panels clad the floors, walls, and ceilings. A two-tone finish — light gray in the primary living spaces and dark brown in selected volumes — guides the eye and suggests a spatial hierarchy.

The façade, clad in dark cedar, engages with the surrounding woodland. Vertical planks arranged in two directions evoke the grain of tree trunks and create a continuity between architecture and nature. As light filters through the trees, the surface shifts in tone and texture, transforming the house into a living, changing organism.

Arranged diagonally to each other to promote cross ventilation, glazed walls and openings amplify the relationship with the landscape. Combined with the spaces between the volumes, the result is bright and airy interiors.

An expression of mindful contemporary living, Discovery Bay House is responsible, sensitive architecture that has grown out of an intimate understanding of its site.

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