The Folks Behind the Designs
We're a tight-knit crew who've spent years figuring out how to make buildings that actually belong in the mountains. Here's who you'll be working with.
Elena Thornwood, Principal Architect
Been at this for about 18 years now, and honestly? Still get excited walking onto a site. I grew up in these mountains, spent my twenties trying to convince anyone who'd listen that we could build differently up here - less fighting with nature, more working alongside it. Started Krython Vale Hold because I got tired of seeing cookie-cutter chalets that ignore everything the landscape's trying to tell us.
My thing's always been about finding that sweet spot where modern living meets proper respect for the environment. Not gonna lie, some clients think I'm too picky about site orientation or material sourcing, but twenty years from now they'll get it. Architecture's a long game.
Marcus Chen, Senior Designer & Sustainability Lead
Joined the team about 7 years back after doing my time with big commercial firms in Vancouver. Turns out I'm not wired for glass towers - mountains are where it's at for me. My background's in environmental engineering, which basically means I'm the guy who gets obsessive about thermal envelopes and solar angles while everyone else is picking paint colours.
What drives me? Making buildings that actually perform the way we promise they will. There's way too much greenwashing in this industry, and I've made it my mission to back up every sustainability claim with real data. If we say a building's gonna hit net-zero, I'm losing sleep until the monitoring systems prove it.
Sarah Kimura, Heritage Restoration Specialist
I'm the history nerd of the group. Spent 12 years working on heritage projects across BC before Elena convinced me to move up to Whistler. Old buildings tell stories that new construction just can't, and there's something special about taking a structure that's been beaten up by a hundred winters and bringing it back to life - better than before, but still itself.
People always ask if restoration conflicts with sustainability, but that's missing the point entirely. The greenest building's often the one that's already standing. My job's figuring out how to keep that character and history while making sure it'll be around for another hundred years. It's detective work, really - every old beam has something to teach you.
Jake Morrison, Landscape Integration Designer
Started out as a backcountry guide, actually. Spent so much time in the alpine that I figured I should probably learn how to work with it professionally. Went back to school in my late twenties for landscape architecture, and found my way here about 5 years ago. My whole approach is pretty simple - the site knows what it wants to be, we just gotta listen.
What I bring to the table's a lot of time spent watching how snow moves, where water wants to go, which spots get hammered by wind and which ones stay calm. That knowledge isn't in any textbook - you get it from being out there. Buildings don't just sit on the land, they become part of the whole ecosystem, and if we screw that up, nature's gonna let us know pretty quick.