Canadian studio Burgers Architecture has built a vacation home on Vancouver's Bowen Island with gabled volumes that culminate in glass walls to overlook the region's waterway.
The house is built on a rocky promontory on Bowen Island, an island to the north of Downtown Vancouver.

Burgers Architecture designed the holiday home to harness the ruggedness of the surroundings, which comprises granite cliffs covered in moss, shrubs and coastal fir and pine trees.
A feature of the site is the expansive views of the Strait of Georgia and the Gulf Islands.

"The property is a gently sloping grass meadow terminating in a steep and rocky shoreline, rich with sea otters, eagles and mule deer," said Burgers Architecture. "It stands as a refuge beacon on the edge of the sea." Bowen Island Residence is adapted to its climate with durable materials including a "tough outer skin" of steel with a galvalume coating and painted finish in grey. This hard material is used for the home's roofing and exteriors walls.

The structure is U-shaped and spans 4,500 square feet (418 square metres). Two small portions that extend out front either end, with gabled portions fronted by glazing.
"The design takes its cue from the rugged coastal fisherman's huts whose straightforward lines and tight building envelopes withstand the strong southeasterly winter winds and corrosive salt air," the studio said.

Horizontal cedar boards cover other exterior portions, and ceili...