From a certain angle, the roof of JP Clinging and Ritz Aranyaphong-Clinging\u2019s home in Abbotsford, B.C., resembles a bird taking flight. The house is divided into two wings (no pun intended). One is for the couple, both entrepreneurs, and their teenage son. The other accommodates members of their extended family: Ritz\u2019s mother, sister and nephew. Where the two volumes meet, a folding, jet-black roofline rises high into the air in either direction.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s one reason we call it the Phoenix House,\u201d says Vancouver architect Nick Bray, founder of Nick Bray Architecture. (Bray also points out that the roof\u2019s central spine, as it were, also serves a practical purpose: directing rainwater to a downspout).<\/p>\n
There is another, deeper reason for the name. The house has, quite literally, risen from the ashes of a tragedy. In 2022, while JP and Ritz were out, an electrical fire tore through their previous home. \u201cWe basically lost everything,\u201d says Ritz.<\/p>\n
The couple could have taken their insurance payout and moved elsewhere. But they had lived on the property for more than 20 years and didn\u2019t want to leave. \u201cIt\u2019s where we have raised our son,\u201d says JP. \u201cWe still had our memories.\u201d<\/p>\n
Creative or claustrophobic? Why \u2018cloffices\u2019 \u2013 closet workspaces \u2013 are on the rise<\/a><\/p>\n In rebuilding, they focused on long-term durability. \u201cAfter all the shock, we asked ourselves, how do we build back a better home?\u201d Ritz recalls. \u201cWe lived four doors away from a firehall, and still this happened.\u201d<\/p>\n Fire protection was paramount. Many of the cladding materials used on the new house are fire-resistant. These include rugged, cement-based Hardie Board panels on the lower level; cedar planks on the upper level, reclaimed from trees damaged in forest fires; and Enviroshake roofing shingles, made from recycled industrial waste.<\/p>\n \u201cCompared to a typical asphalt shingle, which have to be replaced every 15 to 20 years, Enviroshakes are bulletproof,\u201d says Mr. Bray. \u201cThey are more like the slate I saw where I grew up in England \u2013 something that will last a long, long time.\u201d<\/p>\n Beyond fire resistance, JP and Ritz wanted the house to be sustainable in other ways. \u201cA modern home that gets quickly slapped together might last 40 years,\u201d says JP. \u201cWe wanted a home that would last 150 years or longer. We wanted to build for the future, maybe future generations of our family.\u201d<\/p>\n