When I have a day off from the shop, I find myself walking around the city I love, looking for what inspires me. I find myself seeking this idea: that design and aesthetics mean something more, that they embody the spaces we work, live, and play. Whether a public space, or corporate structure, some spaces are built for needs or necessities. Some seem to be gifts passed on. Its the idea that a person or a group was engaged with their usage, while also thinking about how they can add to our built culture. The concepts that resonate the most for me are the ideals of west coast modern design, a work of landscape just as much as one of wood, glass and/or concrete. Like our rough coastline, it's where rock, water, and trees meet. I live in a process dreamed up long ago that now resonates stronger than ever before. The idea that design can inspire an invoked emotion in our thoughts and dreams, that purpose and process leads to results, and that tomorrow will be greater than - not less than.
-Iain
Jawl Industries Ltd.
470 Ardersier Road
North Douglas Saanich
Arthur Erickson
Built in 1972 for the Home Lumber and Building Supplies division of Jawl Industries who still occupy the building today. Known as one of Erickson’s most successful small commissions. It combines the elemental form of an ancient temple with the dramatic simplicity of primeval treeforms. From a shallow stepped podium rise the massive timber supports of the splayed truss system, bracketing the wide floating roof plan, centre inset with a glazed pyramidical skylight. The inset curtain walls and truss level clerestory provide a light airy and efficient office space - replete with associative references for the nature of the trade at hand.
Exploring Victoria’s Architecture, Page 208, Martin Segger,1996.
