Sean Anderson of Progressive Design Concept and Kelly Deck of Kelly Deck Design and host of HGTV’s “Take it Outside,” collaborated on the creation of The Compass Pointe House, a stunning modern abode in Whistler, Canada. The home combines modern and rustic elements to complement and capture the fluidity of the house’s natural environment. Anderson, of Progressive Concept Design, created the home’s layout and overall design, while Deck selected the interior and exterior finishes.
We recently caught up with Kelly Deck to ask her a few questions about herself and her involvement in the recently completed Compass Pointe House project.
Continue on to read the rest of the interview and to view more images of the stunning Compass Pointe home after the jump.
(photo via hgtv)
What spurred your initial interest in design? How did you first enter the design field academically and professionally?
Every Sunday growing up my mother and father would drive us out to the finest neighbourhoods and attend open houses or new developments. Building and beautiful interiors was something we constantly talked about as a family and continue to do so today. It’s not surprising that I always took a keen interest in anything to do with creating interior spaces – renovations, crafts and decorating.
Rather than interior design, my training is in Fine Arts, I graduated from Emily Carr Institute of Art and Design where I studied painting, sculpture and ceramics.
Following graduation I opened a small interior decorating boutique, which evolved into a design studio and then a television series and now a design firm, which employs seven. It’s been an unexpected and exciting journey.
How did you become involved in the Compass Pointe project? Describe your experience working alongside Sean Anderson of Progressive Concept Design.
Brian and Jay Young approached our team to work on this project. They were looking for a design team that could bring a fresh and modern approach to the Whistler Market.
Working with Sean Anderson has been great, we share many common values when it comes to designing a beautiful home: simplicity, flow and efficiency. His floor plan was beautiful and we made very few changes to the original drawings. His design gave our team a crisp and beautiful canvas to work with. The collaboration seems a good one.
Did you look to any particular source of inspiration when designing Compass Pointe?
Our inspiration always comes from the landscape around the homes we design. At Compass Pointe, we drew our textures and colours from the snow coloured landscape of the mountainside. We also avoided all clichés: green slate, heavy raw logs and leather sofas
How important was fluidity between indoor and outdoor spaces?
Very important. Every finish we selected was chosen to relate to a colour or texture in the world around the home. And, we employed simple techniques to really enhance the view and the connection between inside and out. In the great room we painted all the walls a dark brown/black – they frame the view exquisitely. To create a material connection between the interior and exterior of the home we wrapped the steel fireplace surround in the great room into the fireplace in the exterior living room that it backs on to. The exposed beams also run from interior to exterior and all the flooring finishes transition softly from inside to out.
Prior to hosting “Take It Outside,” had you worked extensively in landscape design? If not, how did you make the transition from interior design, and what challenges did you face?
I’m not a landscape designer, my team designs homes inside and out. Our approach is the same in both places – the materials are different because of the weather conditions and building restrictions. The greatest challenge then in designing outdoor spaces is creating a space that can endure the elements and offer the homeowner the greatest amount of usability.
Compass Pointe uses locally sourced fir and stone from nearby Haddington Island. How important has it become in your practice to use local materials and to generally incorporate ecologically responsible design methods?
Working within our community to source products and build lasting relationships with suppliers, trades and craftsmen is part of my company’s core values and it always has been. We are very vocal advocates of west coast materials, design and craftsmen.
According to your website, you approach a project aiming to “design a space that reflects its inhabitants.” How do you approach a client and glean the appropriate information from them to do so?
This home was a little tough because it’s going to market rather than a specific home owner. We worked closely with the developer to determine what we wanted people’s experience of this home to be. Here the intent was to create a space that is modern and sensuous. We want people to feel enveloped and warm in this home despite its simplicity. The key was using lots of natural materials to create a layered and textured interior.
In our custom homes we spend hours meeting with the client and interviewing them about their lifestyle and needs. We visit their existing repeatedly, photographing their belongings, opening their cupboards and seeking out all the ways that we can design a home that really serves their daily needs. It’s very intimate. Once we’ve completed this survey we write a long report about our observations of their needs; we submit for their review and feedback and then begin the initial design process. From there we have many meetings to review the design as it evolves. Our clients usually become friends in the process – our team really takes their needs and anxieties to heart and they know that.
The bulk of your work is focused on residential design, but one of your first endeavors was the storefront for Simple Boutique in Vancouver. Do you predict that you’ll expand into other areas of design (commercial, retail, landscape, etc.) with your business in the future?
Simple was where it all started – it was my store.
As for venturing out in the future, we’d love to, eventually. My team is dying to do a boutique hotel and I’d like to do a little restaurant. But truthfully, my love is for beautiful homes and if this is all I ever designed I’d never be disappointed. I love it.
The Compass Pointe House is an amazing home situated in an almost too perfect location in Whistler, Canada. It’s structures incorporate locally sourced stone and wood in its construction, visually and literally linking it to its surroundings. Floor to ceiling windows afford residents views of the nearby village and Whistler and Blackcomb Mountains, while two rooftop terraces and an expansive patio take further advantage of the impressive view. Open beam ceilings and walls clad in rough-cut stone and sandblasted fir recall traditional cabin architecture, while an open plan and modern furnishings root the home firmly in modern territory. An outdoor fireplace, hot tub, and wine cellar add to the list of amenities incorporated into The Compass Pointe House.
For more information, please visit the home’s official website at Compass Pointe Whistler.
Interview by Daniel J. Carr
