Pacific West blends innovative ideas with rational approach to achieve a balanced result.

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Pacific West blends innovative ideas with rational approach to achieve a balanced result. *

All designers draw inspiration from their predecessors, and Pacific West is no different. We strive to create homes that take a nod to a past trend, a current style or a blend of many elements while maintaining a harmony that yields a positive outcome.

Projects

  • An image of The Cultural Center.

    Genoa Bay Home

  • The Properties Maple Bay

  • Maple Bay Carriage home

  • Genoa Bay Home

  • Creekside Drive Youbou

  • Chemainus home

  • Lakefront Place Youbou

  • Maple Bay home

  • Maple Bay home

  • Drinkwater Rd. home

  • Maple Bay home

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  • Ladysmith home

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  • Maple Bay home

  • Maple Bay home

  • Maple Bay home

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  • Saltair home

  • Cowichan Bay home

  • Duncan Multi Family

  • Lake Cowichan home

About Us

Pacific west was incorporated in 1988 in Duncan, and since that time, designer and owner, Bruce Johnson, has designed many hundreds of homes in the Cowichan Valley and beyond, from garages and small secondary dwellings to grand residences, multi family dwellings and small commercial structures.

Bruce offers over 35 years experience in residential and commercial design, and is very proud of the many beautiful projects he has completed, and equally proud of the sound foundation of repeat and referral business that he has developed.

Process

  • No fee initial consultation to discuss concepts, ideas, architectural style, budget constraints, site potential, etc. and to give a firm quote for Pacific West’s services. This initial consultation also allows a potential client to get a feel for Bruce’s quality of work as well as a sense of potential “compatibility” which is crucial, considering the importance of the project about to be undertaken, and the fact that many hours could be spent together during the process.

  • Site visit to gather information regarding views, solar gain, sight lines, topography, vegetation, servicing, etc. and to make suggestions regarding optimal use of the land for the home as well as possible hurdles involving possible geotechnical requirements, site development costs etc.

  • Producing of preliminary design drawings including floor plans, 3D concept exteriors, elevations etc. to incorporate as many elements as possible on a clients “wish list” and “scrap book” of ideas. These preliminary plans follow the requirements of the local government bylaws regarding possible height restrictions, floor area ratios, setbacks, building scheme requirements, spatial separation requirements etc.

  • The drawings are further refined and revised as desired. During this process, Pacific West always highly recommends that the client consult with their contractor to get an estimate of construction costs and if necessary, the design will be modified to better fit the budget. This is integral to the process, as the harsh reality of construction costs can dramatically affect the design.

  • Working drawings are produced, and in some cases the input of a third party interior designer is utilized.

  • In almost all cases, structural engineering of the plans is required, which in most cases is handled by the contractor. Consultation with the engineer can be important as their requirements can play a role in the design due to structural and seismic considerations.

Referals

“I really enjoyed working with Bruce. We have never designed or built a home before, so we were total neophytes and had no idea of what to expect. He patiently responded to all my questions and concerns, even when we decided to make changes amounting to a total redesign in midstream. His enthusiasm for our home throughout its evolution was heart warming. I appreciated that he never pushed his preferences on us, always letting us decide what was important to us, yet offering suggestions to improve the functionality and flow. Bruce was proactive about communicating with the municipal authorities during the process with respect to a unique design feature we wanted to incorporate. At the end of the process we had a unique home design that met all our needs. If we were to design another home, I would definitely want Bruce to be on board with us again!”

Cindy

“I have been a customer of Bruce at Pacific West for the custom design of both my future home as well as a large special purpose shop/utility building. Bruce consistently demonstrates a high degree of customer focus in all our dealings. he brings a superb mix of creative thinking, very practical approaches and construction knowledge to this work. I have observed Bruce bringing these same capabilities to other customers. He is also very effective in his relationships with contractors.

I will continue to seek his expertise and sound perspective.”

Douglas

“We have recently completed the design and build of our lakefront dream home on Cowichan lake. Fortunately we were introduced to Bruce Johnson of Pacific West by our builder, JBL Custom Homes.

Bruce is a calm and creative professional ( a rare combination in our experience!) who was able to start from a hand drawing we made on the back of a serviette and transform those basic ideas into a home design which is essentially and extension of our personalities. Bruce worked with us on multiple ( and I mean double digit!) versions of design ideas until we had all of our ideas incorporated. During this design process, Bruce was able to use a balance of “asking for our ideas” and “making suggestions for us to think about”… A process which was enjoyable and effective.

Without hesitation, we would recommend Pacific West design to anyone looking to design their personalized home.”

Hugh and Diann