Issue link: http://digital.canadawide.com/i/130547
living well happened because the government decided we should be conserving energy and therefore insulate and seal buildings more, but the impacts were not well understood. Most building rot is not due to leakage but atmosphere condensation that can't escape. The industry has learned much more, but I still have concerns. BCH&G: What was one of your most memorable projects? Merrick: I was asked to design homes for the Esquimalt Nation in Victoria. We realized that they were not obligated to follow government guidelines for First Nations buildings, so decided to build what worked for their way of life. It was satisfying to work closely with them to accommodate needs, stay within their budget – since funding mechanisms provided limited means – and to build homes that they now refer to as "the little Big Houses." Big Houses are spiritual places. We made the living area more spacious with two-storey high ceilings to suit their lifestyle: they often host large numbers of guests for dinner, which involves cooking that generates lots of steam, so natural passive ventilation was used and a cupola; bedrooms above overlook the lower level. BCH&G: What have you learned in your career? Merrick: In making buildings, you make a community, and therefore touch the lives of people in all walks of life – directly with the client, contractor, tradesmen, banker and municipality and indirectly because it affects others who have to live near it or use it. Therefore, creating beauty is about building relationships as much as creating a piece of architectural art. When you're a young architect, you think that if you build a better environment through architecture, you will make a better world. You eventually realize that it isn't all-important but it isn't unimportant either. When designing private schools, I learned from young people that buildings affect them. The students would say to me, "Thank you for building us such a nice school; it makes us feel that we matter." I would be satisfied to be remembered for generating something I can admit to having been a part of to my children because everything we do we leave to our children, literally and figuratively. ■ June 2013 BC HOME & garden | 27 p26-27_PaulMerrick.indd 27 13-05-02 10:07 AM