Honestly? We're kind of obsessed with rocks. Not in a weird way, but... okay, maybe a little weird.
Started this whole thing back in 2011 when I couldn't find an architect who actually understood that granite isn't just "a gray stone" - it's got personality, history, and stories carved into every layer. Each piece of basalt, limestone, or quartzite we work with has been forming for millions of years, and we're just here to give it a second act.
Our studio sits right here on Granite Way (yeah, we thought that was pretty perfect too), where we've been messing around with sustainable mineral integration before it was the trendy thing to do. We don't do cookie-cutter designs - can't stand 'em, actually. Every project starts with the stone itself, not some blueprint we've recycled fifty times.
The team's grown over the years, but we're still that same group of geology nerds who'd rather spend a weekend at a quarry than... well, anywhere else really. We've got structural engineers who can tell you the compression strength of schist off the top of their heads, and designers who dream in sedimentary layers.
Look, most architects treat stone like it's just another material on a spec sheet. That's where they lose me. Stone's got memory - pressure, heat, time - all compressed into something you can actually build with.
We spend way too much time (my accountant would say) doing site analysis, but here's the thing - if you're building in an area with specific geological characteristics, why wouldn't you use materials that evolved in similar conditions? It just makes sense. Plus, sourcing locally means we're not shipping Italian marble halfway across the world when BC's got some of the most incredible stone deposits you'll ever see.
Our process is kinda backwards from traditional architecture. We find the stone first, then design around its properties. Got a client who wants floor-to-ceiling windows? Great, but let's talk about how we can frame those with load-bearing basalt columns that've been waiting in a Vancouver Island quarry for the past 50 million years.
Buildings should outlast trends. Stone's been doing that for eons, so we figured we'd follow its lead.
Sustainability isn't a selling point for us - it's literally how stone works. You're not creating new materials, you're revealing what's already there. No synthetic processes, no chemical treatments that'll break down in twenty years. Just earth, shaped with respect and a decent understanding of physics.
Some of the most satisfying projects we've done are restorations. There's something about matching 150-year-old limestone with the right quarry source... it's like solving a geological puzzle. We've brought back buildings that folks thought were beyond saving.
I'm gonna level with you - I fell into this career by accident. Was studying geology at UBC, spent a summer working at a quarry near Pemberton, and couldn't stop sketching building designs on my lunch breaks. My supervisor thought I was nuts, but eventually someone pointed out that architecture programs exist.
Fast forward through way too many years of school, apprenticeships with firms that didn't quite get my vision, and here we are. Started Pyrelithon Quinth (yeah, the name's a geology joke - if you know, you know) because I was tired of watching beautiful stone get treated like generic building blocks.
These days I split my time between the drafting table, quarry visits, and client meetings where I probably talk too much about igneous intrusions. The team keeps me in check though - we've got twelve people now, each bringing their own weird specialties to the table. Our structural engineer collects mineral samples. Our junior designer's thesis was on medieval stone construction techniques. We're that kind of studio.
What drives me? The moment a client sees their finished building and realizes the walls are telling a story that started before humans even existed. That's the good stuff right there.
Credentials: M.Arch from UBC, B.Sc. Geology, Member of the Architectural Institute of BC, way too many quarry site visits to count
Let's talk about what we can create together. Fair warning: I'll probably send you way too many rock samples.
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