Known as “Camera House,” the homeowners commissioned Leckie Studio Architecture + Design to create this breathtaking 2,650-square-foot vacation home on a forested 5-acre parcel in rural British Columbia. Every window and door intentionally captures the photogenic views of British Columbia’s mountainous Pemberton Valley. Each opening is sized, framed and positioned with purpose and care, as if through a camera’s lens.
The homeowners, an active couple with young children, sought a second home for their family to enjoy the remote outdoors with modern comforts. Located near Whistler’s ski resorts about three hours from Vancouver, they planned to live in the home during the summer months and visit throughout the rest of the year.
Visually Driven, Responsive Design
After Leckie Studio designed an office workplace for one of the homeowners, a friendship was developed with the firm’s principal, Michael Leckie, Architect AIBC, AAA, OAA, NSA. When they decided to look for a rural property to build a cabin in the woods, they invited him to join them.
“I welcomed the opportunity to help them in acquiring the right property,” Leckie said. “I’ve looked at hundreds of properties over my time as an architect. It’s always fun to be a part of the process and evaluate sites for their architectural opportunity. From my perspective, I can see how the architecture might respond to the site and achieve the clients’ goals.”
The glazing is arranged to provide continually shifting perspectives as the inhabitant moves through the spaces…
When they arrived at the future site for Camera House, Leckie observed, “We knew immediately that it was a remarkable, special and unique property. The owners were magically captivated by the big panorama of Mount Currie and the long views to the Garibaldi Range. These were undoubtedly amazing views. The property also offered them five acres that backed onto Crown land, providing a nearly infinite playground and changing scenery. There’s a high waterfall in spring that cascades down Owl Ridge behind the property and beautiful trees that change with the season. The views were one of the main reasons the clients selected the site.”
He explained, “The architectural concept was to create an optical camera to capture incoming light and frame three distinct fields of vision: the foreground of the forest, the background of the Garibaldi Range, and the midground of Owl Ridge.”
“We talked about the architecture acting as a camera lens or framework for experiencing this rural setting and its natural topography. We also discussed how the Latin meaning of the word ‘camera’ means ‘room’ or ‘chamber,’” Leckie continued. “The glazing is arranged to provide continually shifting perspectives as the inhabitant moves through the spaces, and the ground plane of the house follows the natural slope of the site.”
Collaborative Approach, Critical Decisions
As conversations continued and architectural concepts took shape, Leckie saw the home’s design evolve. “Over time, the project brief and scope changed from a modest cabin in the woods to a more ambitious undertaking that included a pool and a workshop—creating a vacation home that could be enjoyed year-round, and occupied over long periods through the summer.”
“Originally, the house design was much more angular. There was a lot they liked, yet six months into schematic design, they were still saying ‘but, but, but.’ When we finally understood that they were uncomfortable with so many angles in the floorplan, everything became clear. We were able to rectify the design with much more rectilinear forms. It was a great moment,” Leckie shared.
Seeking inspiration and hands-on inspection, the homeowners visited Kolbe Gallery Vancouver by Finestra Design with associates from Leckie Studios. Together, they selected Kolbe VistaLuxe® WD LINE window and door products. Along with the wood interior and extruded aluminum-clad exterior, the product line’s Accent profile style features a recessed sash with a shadow line that creates additional depth and dimension.
“The windows and doors were critically important to the success of the project,” Leckie emphasized. “They really wanted windows with a wood interior for its look and feel, and an aluminum-clad exterior for longevity and durability. Kolbe’s systems met the many design considerations and a wide variety of conditions for this home.”
As examples, he noted, “the large lift and slide door, the corner windows with the narrowest of mullions, and the large expanse of clerestory windows. I was particularly impressed with how Kolbe was able to achieve such a thin profile in mulling together the clerestory windows. The windows are complex and a really important part of the project.”
Kolbe Gallery Vancouver’s team members are Kolbe Certified Technicians offering full service capabilities and installation services. They have also successfully completed the Fenestration & Glazing Industry Alliance’s Installation Masters® Training and Certification Program demonstrating their industry-leading expertise.
“Building in remote areas can be very challenging. It’s important to have an experienced builder involved early,” Leckie added. After schematic design was complete, Leckie considered several builders and selected Ray Dierolf and Western Craft Contracting.
Disappear into Nature
“It’s a more complex opportunity to design a remote rural home. Unlike a typical urban home, there is no street presence,” observed Leckie. “To get to Camera House, you have a long gravel drive set back within the five-acre property. The concept of front, back and sides is very different from a city setting. In this case, the architecture is more of a pavilion. You can move around the house on all four sides and take in 360-degree views.”
“Responding to the site as intended, the dark wood-clad exterior seems to disappear into the landscape,” Leckie continued. “Inside, the home has ample amounts of flat-sawn White Oak on the floor, furnishings and cabinetry. Kolbe was able to provide a range of exterior and interior finishes that were a good match.”
To blend with the wood cladding, the windows’ and doors’ extruded aluminum-clad frames on the exterior are finished in a 70% fluoropolymer architectural coating for low-maintenance durability and a bronze color. The interior White Oak wood frames and trim deliver a warm, tactile feel to the home. Their minimalist, narrow profiles emphasize clean, crisp lines and maximize the frame-to-daylight opening for increased viewing area. The operable screens’ interior frames are oak-wrapped to match the window frames and complemented with contemporary hardware in a satin nickel finish.
The split-level home’s four distinctive volumes with varying heights are topped with sloping roofs. Inside, vaulted ceilings allow for the strategic placement of clerestory windows. These upper openings frame views of the Owl Ridge mountains and forest treetops. At night, the warm, indirect light of the interior creates the appearance of a candle-lit lantern.
Shared and Separate Space
During the day, Camera House’s many window and door openings optimize the reflected natural light through the communal spaces with multi-angled white ceilings, white walls, and light oak and polished concrete floors.
Stepping from the main entry down into the dining room, the floorplan flows to either side with a semi-private living room to the front and a large open kitchen to the back. In the living room, 90-degree direct set corner windows are positioned diagonally across from one another to interrupt the solid walls at precisely positioned portals.
The windows and doors were critically important to the success of the project… Kolbe’s systems met the many design considerations and a wide variety of conditions for this home.
Rising from the floor to the ceiling, a monolithic concrete fireplace subdivides the living room from the combined dining and kitchen area. A concrete bench and long span of windows unify the dual-purpose room along the exterior wall. This thoughtfully designed perimeter offers an ideal perch to talk as meals are being prepared and to view the rustic landscaped stone paths.
Opposite the fireplace, the kitchen’s full wall features a pocketing three-section, multi-slide door that expands the living space to the pool and offset terrace with a hot tub. The white concrete floor extends outside, creating continuity with the interior material palette and contrast with the exterior’s darkly stained Western Red Cedar wood cladding.
Inside, the pantry, powder room and laundry room are situated at the interior core of Camera House, where the elevation changes between shared and private zones. On the upper level, the couple’s primary bedroom is parallel to the kitchen with shared views of the terrace. Their bed is mere steps away from the pool, accessed through their own large sliding door.
The two bedrooms for the children are separated with a full bath. All three rooms plus the parents’ private en suite bath face the most densely forested side to enhance their privacy and their personal connection with nature.
The study, which serves as a home office and flex space for the family, also offers forest-side views as well as front-facing windows onto the main entry and stone-lined gravel path approaching the house. Preserving old growth trees and prioritizing local landscaping were important to the desired views.
Energy Step Code, Minimal Footprint
To meet British Columbia’s stringent energy code, Leckie also worked with Kolbe to fine-tune the glass specifications. “The high clerestory windows do not have overhangs, so we added a reflective film to the glass that filters out the UV. There’s a slightly different set of considerations for each side of the home.”
Assisting with the project requirements, Western Craft Contracting follows BC Energy Step Code Building practices, net-zero ready construction methods and Passive House Canada design principles. With respect to the environment and consideration for the home’s remote location, Camera House also supports a rooftop solar-power array and employs passive heating and cooling strategies.
“Ultimately, this is a house which seeks to leave a minimal footprint, while magnifying the ways that our source of shelter might celebrate vision and elevate experience,” summarized Leckie.
Completed in 2021, the project was honored by the Architecture Foundation of British Columbia with a 2023 Design Excellence Award.