Zebra Design
There’s an exciting development taking place in Victoria. Literally, 12 new trend-setting homes are being built on Christmas Hill. The development, called Rainbow Hill (after the street name), has done away with gabled roofs, traditional windows and faux arts and crafts nostalgia. Instead, the elegant, modern style design guidelines are fresh to Victoria: they call for flat, arced, or single-pitched roofs, solid timber beams and posts, and an adherence to green building standards. Rus Collins and his company, Zebra Design, are excited about the project because it calls for a new brand of innovation. We like to design projects we feel good about,” he said. “This is one of them.”
Rainbow Hill looks out South-West over Victoria, the Straight of Georgia, and the Saanich Peninsula. Each lot was planned to impact the natural Garry Oak ecosystem as little as possible. The community is next to Christmas Hill Park, a popular natural area to hike through, but is not close to stores or recreation facilities; its “walk score” (walkscore.com) is 42/100, which means it is car dependent.
Victoria is lucky. We don’t have enormous construction companies building 400-500 houses at once, with four different styles to choose from. Houses in our existing neighbourhoods are largely custom designed. That said, there is a shortage of family-type housing as we consider it today. It’s tough to find a home with a large back yard, 3-4 bedrooms, a great room, a dining area, and enough versatility for the kids to grow up in without renovating.
It turns out that many people want the same things in a home. That was one of the greatest challenges that Rus faced on the Rainbow Hill project. The houses are situated on the same slope, facing the same direction, with the same sized lots. Designing individual layouts, special to each client, with the same number or rooms and without making one house better than the other, was difficult to do.
Rus has an extensive understanding of design teachings. Not surprisingly, it takes years and great attention to detail to be a great designer. Over the years, he has learnt that rooms should be balanced in size and should flow together - without conceding privacy. Paint colour preferences should be cut 3-5 times before buying the colour, because it’s always brighter than expected. Using specific materials for more than just cabinetry or flooring, but as a wall or a screen, can make a room special.
New ideas and projects challenge the designers at Zebra all the time. Renovations in Victoria are especially difficult - it’s often cheaper to build a new house. But Rus just finished renovating a local traditional house: they excavated, moved, and added to it and still managed to maintain its heritage status. Often, when the owners consider the house a toss-up as to whether they’ll keep it or not, Rus will find a way to open up the interior and make it a whole new home.
When asked about the most important part of Zebra Design, Rus thought for a minute. “Zebra design designs homes with a conscience,” he said. “Not just green, but complimentary to the neighbourhood. Every house we design is interesting to me. We strive to design houses that people slow down to see because they like them so much.”
Rus seems to be getting his wish. For more information (including design guidelines and pictures) about Rainbow Hill or Zebra Design, you can visit rainbowhill.ca, and zebragroup.ca.
Zebra Design
1161 Newport Avenue
250.360.2144
Published March 23, 2010
Claire Atkin writes from Victoria B.C.
