One designer’s trash is another designer’s creation! The Rockhouse in Sechelt, BC was built into a giant rock bluff – a terrain considered undesirable for its irregular and difficult shape.

Ironically, when Sandrin Leung Architecture took on the project, the firm found inspiration in the challenges which deterred others: the rock itself.

The anchor of this design is the central courtyard. The curved stone formation counterbalances the irregularity of the design in an intelligent manner.

With the property situated against the rocky bluff, the architects created numerous unique niche windows which embrace – and in fact celebrate – the natural stone which interact with the dwelling through a variety of framed openings.

The construction was executed with a strategic environmentally-friendly approach. This included passive solar heat opportunities through the careful placement of windows, which capture sunlight during the winter while sheltering direct sunlight during the summer, and the courtyard design which creates the cross ventilation of air inside and out.

The Rockhouse was positioned in an exacting way so as to preserve with the natural drainage patterns of the site.

At its core, the dwelling’s building components and fittings are constructed mostly of natural sustainable materials, including cedar, pine, fir, bamboo and stone.

Marrying function, form and sustainable design, the natural, open, and volumetric quality is truly heaven for those who love the outdoors.

In short, ‘it rocks’!

Visit Sandrin Leung Architecture’s website to check out the firm’s impressive body of work.

All Photographs by Ana Cristina Sandrin, Courtesy of  Sandrin Leung Architecture.

Researched and Written by Mikhail Shchupak-Katsman, Undergraduate Environmental Design, OCAD University.