campos studio embeds the sooke house within the forest of a rocky hill in canada

campos studio has designed the sooke house for a woman and her dog on a rocky hill where the forest meets the sea in british colombia, canada. the construction of the angular house draws from the the forest, a series of douglas fir, sitka spruce and cedars trunks supporting their foliage high up in the air. as such, the structure is organized around one proportioned concrete column rising out of the floor, which mimics the trees trunks in size and scale. this column, along with the wood stove pipe, recreates and integrates the house with the rhythm of the forest.all images by ema peter

after camping on the site, campos studio drew from being in the forest and eschewed the traditional impetus to place a house on the edge of the forest looking out into the ocean. ‘the rocky knoll, at the high point of the site, emerged as the natural place that organized the site,’ explains the vancouver-based studio. ‘it was the place where everyone congregated to observe and socialize. recognized as such, the decision was taken to leave this area intact and envelop it with the house.’ drawing from the tall forest trees surrounding the site, the architects developed the structure around one concrete column which mimics the trees trunks in size and scale.

a thin slat wood ceiling supported by the meandering ridge beam that branches along the main space evokes the canopy of the surrounding conifers, created by the large branches that spread from the trunks of the trees with the light filtering through the dense filigree of the needles. the experience of the forest from the house was replicated inside by organizing each space around a different abstracted view of the landscape. a series of forest vistas through each room present different aspects of the forest, to views of the trunks, tree canopy, shoreline, ocean and mountains. ‘this not only serves to recreate the all encompassing forest experience but also to create a unique environment for each space in the house,’ adds campos studio, ‘a technique that creates rich variety for a small house in the woods.’