Serious architecture begins with serious aspirations.
And when the London practice Gort Scott took on a
house in Whistler, British Columbia, it came with the
loftiest of goals. “This is not a typical resort residence
project,” the client wrote in a vision statement to the
designers. “It is an architectural expression of self.”
Yet the client also wanted a house that would
harmonize with its context, a dramatic ridge above
Alta Lake in B.C.’s Coast Mountains. Gort Scott shaped
these ideas into a home – rendered in concrete,
brass and wood – with its own complex personality.
Dubbed The Rock, the six-bedroom house and
two-bedroom guest house constitute a set of volumes
placed between stands of hemlock trees, the archi-
tecture rising and falling with the land. According to
the architects, this desire for equilibrium reflects their
own sensibilities as well as the client’s. “The most
important thread in our work is a deep interest in
context,” says Gort Scott co-founder Fiona Scott.
“That applies as much to rocks and trees as to an
existing building.”
The client – a father of three recently retired from
a transpacific career in business – shared this view.
“Quite simply, this is an extraordinary place,” he says.
He conducted an invited design competition and
selected Gort Scott after the architects travelled to
see the site in person. “We spent a week there just
absorbing the place, examining the views, watching
the light as it changed through the day, experiencing
this journey to the top of the rock,” Jay Gort recalls.
LEFT AND BELOW:
The heavy concrete
walls of the main
residence are pierced
by windows that carefully
frame views, be it Alta
Lake from the living room
or a stand of hemlocks
from the kitchen.078 _ _SEPT 2019