Scott & Scott Architects Alpine Cabin
A beautifully rugged, off-the-grid powder haven inspired by snowboarding
Having grown tired of life in established firms, Vancouver-based architects Susan and David Scott ditched their digs in favor of the road less traveled, founding Scott and Scott Architects to focus on designing projects in more challenging environments. Launching today, 21 February, the small shop proudly introduces their first flagship project, an off-the-grid alpine cabin inspired by the physical and mental isolation involved with backcountry snowboarding and designed to blend in with its surroundings. Susan, David and a few volunteer friends built the 100-square-meter structure on location on the northern end of Vancouver Island using locally felled lumber.
“The cabin was constructed out of a desire to directly design and build as a singular act, to work with the freedom one experiences when snowboarding, and in a manner which is centered in the adventure and not bound heavily in pre-determination,” David says. To make a minimum mark the project avoided machine excavation, instead opting for an elevated design anchored with Douglas Fir columns, creating a structure that will deflect dominating winds and withstand the region’s intimidating annual snow fall—often reaching upwards of 50 feet.
Further unifying the cabin with its surroundings, rough-sawn and planed fir dominates the interior while weathered cedar comprises the exterior, cast in a dark gray hue native to the surrounding forest. The raw aesthetic continues through various details like wrought iron candle stands and leather-wrapped door handles. The cabin’s strategic positioning and floor-to-ceiling windows take advantage of the exposed surroundings, bathing the cabin in natural light.
As the flagship project of Scott and Scott Architects the Alpine Cabin represents the future for the modest firm, focusing on the use and integration of the surrounding in challenging environments. To contact them visit their recently launched site and for a more detailed look at the Alpine Cabin see the slideshow.
Images courtesy of Scott & Scott Architects
