John Gower Design

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Home Building and Design Resources

In the course of our practice, we’ve encountered lots of ideas for designing better dwellings that suit the priorities of modern life, are more affordable to build and maintain, use less material to create and less energy to heat. These homes are more responsive to our need for peace, creativity, privacy, and connection with the natural world. Here are a few articles that discuss home building based on those ideas. We hope that they’ll inspire thought and dialogue, and welcome your feedback.

  • Sustainable Renovations For Every Room
    Whether you buy an older home or a new construction home, there are most likely modifications and renovations you can do to make your new house more eco-friendly. Our article details room by room recommendations to live more efficiently, reduce your environmental impact, and possibly increase a homes value in appraisal. It also covers evaluating ...
  • Video: Sustainable Design in the Home
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L6DS_wz9jME Is sustainable design a priority in your home building project?  Do you know how to achieve it? John Gower, residential designer, tours a building site and discusses some of the elements of sustainable design in this short video by Edward Homer. (You can view other great videos on Edward Homer’s YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/user/EcofilmsbyEHomer)
  • Creating the Resilient Home
    We’ve created a table that outlines some of the challenges we face in the era of climate change, along with practical ways to respond to these challenges. Can be downloaded and printed as an 11″ x 17″ poster or handout:   Creating the Resilient Home
  • The Small House – An Idea Worth Considering
    We think that building smaller, better thought-out homes is a timely idea. Here are some of the reasons why.
  • Avoiding Renovation Hell
    How do you prevent that long-anticipated renovation from turning into a stressful, expensive nightmare? We offer some tips, from the careful selection of your contractor to maintaining realistic expectations.
  • Choosing The Right House Plan For You
    So you’ve found the perfect lot piece of land. Where do you turn for your home plans? We examine the three main options: designing the house yourself, purchasing a stock plan, or hiring a design professional.
  • Radiant Heating Systems
    More and more people are finding that hydronic radiant heat is a comfortable, energy efficient and healthful heating alternative. This article looks at the principles of radiant heating, with a particular focus on economical systems for compact homes.
  • A Business Profile of John Gower
    Here’s a profile by David Carrigg of John’s early work as an e-commerce pioneer in Nelson, BC – before it became commonplace to do business online. How things have changed since then…
  • What Makes BC Mountain Homes Stand Out?
    People are often curious about how we approach the design process. This article offers a brief summary of BC Mountain Homes’ design values.

Developing a New Site: Resources

We’re pleased to offer this series of articles by John Gower, providing information for anyone contemplating the purchase of rural property. Here you’ll find the various steps involved — from choosing and purchasing land, to preparing a development plan and obtaining house plans. Throughout, the goal is to help people “find their place in the country”. Click on the links below to read the articles:
Finding Your Place in the Country
Choosing the Property that is Right for You: Part I
Choosing the Property that is Right for You: Part II
Rural Site Development Phase I: The Site Inventory
Rural Site Development Phase II: The Development Plan
Giving New Life to Old Structures – Part I
Giving New Life to Old Structures – Part II
Waterfront Building

Sustainability & Green Building Links

A small selection of useful websites for people who want to learn more about sustainable building:

Insulspan:  We’re pleased to be part of Insulspan’s “Design Alliance” of energy-conscious design and building professionals. Insulspan produces structural insulated panels, with expertise in energy efficiency. From their website: “Our energy-efficient SIPs provide superior comfort and lower utility bills for homeowners.” The site offers lots of useful information for homeowners, builders, architects and designers.

Bullfrog Power:  We’ve taken a big step to reduce our carbon emissions by choosing 100% green electricity for our company with Bullfrog Power®. Across Canada, Bullfrog’s green electricity comes from a blend of wind and low-impact hydro power sourced from new Canadian renewable energy facilities. Bullfrog ensures that the electricity going onto the grid on our behalf is from green sources, displacing energy from polluting sources. As Bullfrog Power uses its customers’ support to provide funding to new green energy projects, our green energy purchase is also helping provide critical financial support to new renewable energy projects in our region and across Canada.

Canadian Passive House Institute (CanPHI): A registered non-profit educational organization, Canadian-owned and operated. Provides the knowledge, tools, networks and confidence to design and construct buildings to the world’s highest level of energy efficiency, the international Passive House Standard.

Home Advisor: An all-around great resource for the homeowner looking for articles and tips on energy efficiency in the home, from lighting to water conservation and more.

BC Sustainable Energy Association: The mission of BC SEA is to facilitate the transition to a sustainable energy future in British Columbia through education, advocacy and tangible community projects.

Small Housing BC:  Small Housing BC is the public voice in support of small housing in the province. It actively champions the creation and inclusion of smaller forms in established single-family neighbourhoods across BC.

Pocket Neighborhoods:  An interesting source of information on pocket neighbourhoods, an emerging model of small-scale community.

Our Clients Say…

John Gower provided the designs for a renovation to our 70 year old house. He designed a home that is energy efficient, durable, safe and beautiful. We cherish its simplicity, the connection it allows us to maintain with our community and the heritage feel that we were able to preserve. He made the process fun, thoughtful and productive. The sustainability of the design work that he provided will allow the house to be enjoyed for many more years.
Suzanne W.Comox, BC
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We hired John Gower Design to design an energy efficient Arts & Crafts style home for us. Working with John was an enjoyable and productive experience. He took our ideas and made them a reality. We found John’s strengths to be his sense of space and proportion and his willingness to listen to our ideas. We have lived in the house for two years and are continually amazed at how well the house works and its comfort and beauty.
Ross N.Victoria, BC
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What an amazing experience to be part of designing a home to suit our lot! We had looked at house plans for months and could find nothing that we liked. Within ten minutes you had ideas for a plan that would fit the location and not destroy the natural surroundings. You are so knowledgeable about the whole building experience, not just the designing. We liked the way you interacted with our contractors. They said they thought you were very down to earth and had obviously done some building yours… Read more
Bob & Judy P.Big Lake, BC
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Every time someone asks me about the design for our house, I tell them how great you were to work with and how you took my attempts to change things and made them happen on paper. Thanks so much!
Constance and Lee
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Your building plans worked fine for us and there were no issues of any size… We moved in here in Dec.2013 and find the house well laid out and easy to live in. Our dealings with your company were straight forward and presented no problems. All in all a good choice for us.
HelmutChilliwack, BC
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We worked with John Gower Design on a ‘contemporary craftsman’ style custom waterfront home. His drawings were thorough, well thought out and the assemblies worked well. He responded quickly to our requests for clarification and we collaborated well to refine the specifications as we built. We would be pleased to work with John Gower Designs again.
Kevin F. (Builder)Duncan, BC
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John was our house designer for a property on a steep site on the water. We wanted something modern and a bit unusual and he provided that. He was respectful of our needs and our wishes and designed a lovely and functional home. Working with him was a pleasure. He made several site visits and as well we met with him several times at his office. As well he took part in sourcing material that was hard to find. I would recommend him to anyone. We had no problems re deadlines or budget. The house wa… Read more
Kathryn W.Pender Harbour, BC
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Everyone loves our plans and I have referred you to a number of people who are planning to build.
Zoltan & Jane K.Sakinaw Lake, BC
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Everything is the way it should be.  You designed us an amazing, perfect house which nestles into the landscape and gives us endless opportunities to enjoy this special piece of the world. Thank you!!!!
Mark S. & Laura M.Duncan, BC
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We’ve been living in it for a year now and are really pleased with the design and the final product. I can’t thank you enough for the extra work you did designing the downstairs living space. It is a perfect floor plan and very roomy. I can’t believe all that we are able to fit in there.  We hope that you are still designing houses when we build our next house!
Patricia B.California
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212 - 2459 Cousins Avenue | Courtenay, British Columbia, Canada | V9N 3N6

Tel: 250.871.8765 | Toll-free: 1.877.366.2502

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