Project Name: Eagle House

Location: Nelson, Canada

Design Team: Stanley Office of Architecture

Total Floor Area: 5400 ft²

Completion: 2024

Photography: Bryce Duffy

Feature: Stanley Office of Architecture completed the Eagle House project in Nelson, creating a pioneering residential pavilion that exemplifies how innovative skylight systems and masterful structural strategies can transform the challenging mountainous terrain of British Columbia's Kootenay region into an architectural masterpiece that captures both dramatic vistas and precious daylight. The project is positioned within the Canadian mountain context, drawing inspiration from regional building traditions to create an architectural work that both celebrates local craftsmanship and embodies groundbreaking contemporary residential design approaches.

The project's most compelling design feature lies in its strategic response to extreme site conditions. Facing the fundamental tension between capturing northern views and harvesting southern light in a narrow valley surrounded by towering peaks, the architects masterfully employed a skylight-centered design strategy, creating an illuminated architectural oasis through a sophisticated sequence of light wells that opens toward the landscape through carefully framed living spaces. The building's geometry is carefully designed around daylight optimization requirements, maximizing structural transparency while ensuring every space receives adequate natural illumination throughout the day.

The design team's spatial innovation unfolds through the clever arrangement of two distinct wings and a dramatic entrance sequence. This breakthrough organizational system achieves seamless integration of interior and exterior spaces through a bold structural grid of steel posts and beams supporting doubled glulam rafters, with the living area overlooking expansive northern vistas that frame Kokanee Glacier's craggy peaks. The architects collaborated intensively with local craftsmen to employ regional construction techniques, combining Douglas fir and hemlock with contemporary structural systems to create a unique Canadian mountain architectural vocabulary. This material dialogue not only honors British Columbia's rich forestry traditions but also establishes collective memory between contemporary and vernacular building cultures.

Spatial design thoroughly considers harsh mountain climate conditions. The building's overall form effectively regulates interior light and thermal comfort through strategic skylight arrangements, while utilizing near-black fiber cement walls and warm wood surfaces to provide natural environmental integration. The dramatic entrance sequence serves as a threshold experience, connecting private and social zones while establishing a continuous relationship between interior comfort and exterior wilderness. This transitional space leads from the forest approach to the panoramic living area, weaving between compressed and expanded volumes.

The project embodies exceptional landscape integration principles. All outdoor spaces are conceived as extensions of the natural forest setting, featuring stone-wrapped outdoor stove, covered patios, and deck systems that define transitional zones between architecture and wilderness. From above, the building's form reveals its thoughtful response to the sloped site, where structural elements and spatial voids define strategic openings toward the commanding views.

Facade and material integration is achieved through extensive use of regional materials. The near-black fiber cement walls, warm wood ceilings and millwork, and board-formed concrete foundation recall the robustness of mountain construction while maintaining contemporary spatial experiences. Large window walls disappear structurally into the landscape, transforming the living spaces into panoramic viewing platforms facing Kootenay Lake and the glacier beyond.

Eagle House represents a thoughtful contemporary Canadian mountain architectural design approach, demonstrating how British Columbia's rich forestry traditions, local material applications, and landscape integration strategies can be incorporated into contemporary high-quality residential architectural design without compromising modern living functionality.

Design Team - Stanley Office of Architecture stands as a distinguished representative of regionally-inspired Canadian architectural practice, founded in Nelson, BC in 2014 by Principal Architect Matthew Stanley AIBC, having established an exceptional reputation in contemporary residential design and indigenous material innovation since its founding. This Nelson-based practice redefines architecture's relationship with natural mountain environments through seamless integration of design, construction, and community engagement.

Stanley Office of Architecture brings exceptional multi-scale design perspectives and deep understanding of interdisciplinary approaches to architectural practice. The practice has garnered recognition for its commitment to integrating traditional regional crafts with contemporary design technologies, with founder Matthew Stanley having trained internationally in renowned cities including Montreal, Calgary, Victoria, Ahmedabad, and Barcelona. This combination of global experience with McGill University and University of Calgary architectural education positions Stanley Office of Architecture uniquely within Canada's architectural landscape.

The firm's design philosophy emphasizes the importance of relationships between built form and regional landscape, working across scales from residential to community projects through diversified practice, believing that architecture should result from deep respect for contextual integration and material authenticity. Senior Designer Damian Jensen contributes over twenty years of international experience in residential, commercial, educational, and community projects, while Designer Tobias Gray, a Kootenay native with carpentry expertise, brings hands-on construction knowledge to the team. Stanley Office of Architecture believes that the best architecture can blur interior-exterior boundaries and create unique mountain living experiences through strategic use of skylights, courtyards, and transitional spaces.

Beyond practice, the firm maintains strong community connections, with team members actively participating in local outdoor recreation and community development. Through thoughtful application of traditional craft and modern construction method integration, locally-sourced materials, and time-tested regional building techniques, Stanley Office of Architecture has established itself as a significant contributor to contemporary Canadian architectural discourse, creating architectural works that are both locally responsive and embrace modern lifestyle requirements.