¼C Modern ✳

The catalog · No. 16

The Tower

A small concrete and glass tower. One room per floor, view from the top. 2 bed + study and 1.5 bath, 1,210 square feet. Small, honest, tight.

The Tower design study render
Study No. 16 · design study render

The two faces

Modest to the street, open to the garden.

From the street: a calm, low face. The house saves its glass for the garden.
From the street: a calm, low face. The house saves its glass for the garden.
The garden side opens wide in glass and warm light. The face the family lives with.
The garden side opens wide in glass and warm light. The face the family lives with.
The way in, sheltered under deep eaves, a lit door at dusk.
The way in, sheltered under deep eaves, a lit door at dusk.

The plan

Every square foot, accounted for.

Program2 bed + study · 1.5 bath
Floor area1,210 sq ft · 3 storeys
StructureConcrete frame, glass infill
RoofFlat, stair bulkhead
EnvelopeStep Code 5 target · ACH50 ≤ 1.0, blower-door verified
Signaturetower plan · corner glazing

Plan drawn to the render. Room dimensions on the drawing; areas sum to the stated floor area. A construction set follows the House No. 1 pipeline.

GROUND 403 SF SECOND 403 SF UPPER 403 SF UP BED 2 12'×11' BATH 8'×5' UTIL HALL ENTRY 20'-0" 20'-2" UP·DN KITCHEN LIVING · DINING 19'×13' PWDR BALCONY 10'×4' DN ROOF STUDY 9'×8' BED 1 13'×11' HALL N 0510 FT
One room per floor up the concrete frame: guest suite at grade, kitchen and living with the drying balcony above it, primary and study at the top where the corner glass takes the view.

The honest number

What it should cost to build.

Site prep + servicesexcavation, utilities to lot line hookups$27,500
Foundationslab or crawlspace, insulated$46,000
Structure + framingpost and beam or conventional, roof structure$73,000
Enveloperoofing, windows + doors, cladding, insulation + air sealing to ACH50 ≤ 1.0$110,000
Mechanical / electrical / plumbingheat pump, HRV, full rough-in + fixtures$82,500
Interior finishesfloors, millwork, kitchen, baths, paint$91,500
GC + contingencysupervision, permits admin, 5% contingency$27,500
Hard cost$457,500

Band $421,000 to $494,000 · $378/sq ft

Cost model v0.1: Okanagan 2026 hard-cost bands from a $/sq ft basis, stated as an estimate, not a quote. Excludes land, design and permit soft costs, and GST. As the House No. 1 build sheet gathers real supplier and trade receipts, receipts replace estimates here, line by line.

Where the money goes further

Small choices that hold the number down.

01One roof, framed simply

One roof, framed simply

A single flat form with deep overhangs. The cheaper roof to build and to keep dry.

02Stock materials, standard sizes

Stock materials, standard sizes

Cedar and fibre-cement in the sizes they ship in. Almost nothing is cut to waste.

Life inside

The rooms this plan is for.

Living room under concrete frame, a full wall of glass to the outside.
Living room under concrete frame, a full wall of glass to the outside.
An honest kitchen: plywood, butcher block, a window on the yard.
An honest kitchen: plywood, butcher block, a window on the yard.
A small study at the window.
A small study at the window.

The details

What you notice up close.

Tower plan, up close.
Tower plan, up close.
Corner glazing.
Corner glazing.
Where the roof meets the glass, the light gets in low and long.
Where the roof meets the glass, the light gets in low and long.

Grows when you do

Built small, drawn to expand.

The Tower is drawn to grow. A slab pad and a framed opening are set at the start, so another bedroom, a studio, or a suite lands on the side already built for it, with no re-doing what is there.

TodayDay one: a blank end-wall and a slab pad left ready.
Day one: a blank end-wall and a slab pad left ready.
When you need itLater: a matching cedar wing on that pad. Same roof, one more room.
Later: a matching cedar wing on that pad. Same roof, one more room.
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