GRAY No_35

hot new next
big idea
Digital images created by
Leckie Studios’ in-house
visualization lab, Plus
Visual, depict a model
Frontcountry cabin that
Leckie calls the Surf Hut;
it’s slated to be built
in summer 2018 on
Vancouver Island.
LEADER OF
THE PACK
Written by STEPHANIE MACDONALD
AFTER AN INTENSE DAY OF BACKWOODS ADVENTURING,
NOTHING BEATS THE SIGHT OF A COZY CABIN IN THE
DISTANCE, and no one knows this better than Wilson Edgar,
president of the Vancouver-based BC Mountaineering Club.
Two years ago, Edgar, who spends much of his time “out and
about in the mountains,” started to consider how to create
backcountry buildings that could be flat-packed and assembled
virtually anywhere, by anyone. Edgar knew just who to ask
for help: architect Michael Leckie, his friend of four decades
and a fellow outdoor enthusiast. And so the Backcountry Hut
Company was born.
The result of two creative minds melding their shared passions—sustainable
building and wilderness adventure—Backcountry
Hut Company buildings are prefabricated, modular,
scaleable, mass-customizable, and flat-packed. “We really like
the concept of the community barn-raising process,” explains
Leckie. The company’s easy-to-construct prefab dwellings are
made from FSC-certified wood and 100% recyclable materials.
They can be used as all sorts of shelters, from mountaineering
huts to simple rural cottages and even summer homes. “The
form recognizes the traditional cabin aesthetic,” says Leckie,
“while inside it feels almost chapel-like, with open vertical »
RENDERING COURTESY PLUS VISUAL
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