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JOHN BROWN is the editor of theslowhome.com and the founder of the Slow Home Movement. He is a registered architect, real estate broker and Professor of Architecture at the University of Calgary.
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Hydronic Floor Heating, Solar Systems and a View
Panorama House from the Street
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Entry Detail
Living Room
View from the Living Room
Kitchen
Stairs Bridging the Split Levels
Family Room
Terrace Entry
Living Room from Kitchen
Bathroom
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The Panorama House, situated on a sloping hillside in Ocean Park, maximizes panoramic city views with a series of horizontal floor, deck and roof planes that step up the site. Counter-posing these outward looking or extroverted spaces, are shed roof forms that parallel the site’s slope and provide a spatial experience of containment or introversion.
Center-stringer stairs bridge across exterior landscaping and run through the house connecting split-level floor and deck planes. Sliding panels, of clear glass along the exterior and translucent glass within the house, moderate these connections. When panels are open, sliding into pockets in walls, the house is completely open to itself and to the outdoors.
Passive and active solar systems are integral to the house. The shed roofs provide optimal orientation for both photovoltaic and solar water panels. Decks in turn provide broad overhanging eaves along south, east and west exposures. Hydronic floor heating and natural ventilation further support the sustainability of the house.
A systemic logic in the application of finish materials and detailing reinforce the design concepts of the house to create a unified living environment out of a complex set of parts.
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We believe that our homes and neighborhoods should be healthy, vibrant places that uplift the spirit and gracefully fit our needs. We call for an end to poor construction, bad design, misleading marketing, unfair lending practices and environmental neglect in the housing industry. We acknowledge our collective responsibility to create CLOSE, SIMPLE, LIGHT places to live that leave a positive legacy for future generations.
provides design focused information that homeowners can use to improve the quality of how and where they live. It takes its name from the slow food movement which arose as a reaction to the processed food industry. The sprawl of cookie cutter housing that surrounds us is like fast food - standardized, homogenous, and wasteful. It contributes to a too fast life that is bad for us, our cities, and the environment. In the same way that slow food raises awareness of the food we eat and how these choices affect our lives, Slow Home empowers you to take more control of your home and improve the quality of how you live while reducing your environmental impact and futureproofing the long term investment value of your home.
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