The Grotto | Architectural Photography Case Study — Victoria, BC

A Residential Addition Built Into Bedrock | Gonzales Bay, Victoria

Architect: Bruce Greenway, Greenway Studio Architecture
Builder: Frontera Homes
Location: Gonzales Bay, Victoria, BC
Recognition: Dwell Magazine’s Most Popular Houses of 2023 | Four 2023 ‘Construction and Renovation Excellence’ (CARE) Awards from the Victoria Residential Builders Association

The Challenge

The backyard of this Gonzales Bay home was dominated by a massive metamorphic bedrock outcrop — moss-covered, rain-smoothed, and deeply loved by the homeowners. When they approached architect Bruce Greenway about adding a private annex for remote work and family use, the instruction was clear: preserve the rock.

That constraint shaped everything that followed.

The Design

Rather than work around the bedrock, Greenway designed into it. Fragments of the rock were used to build a curving stone wall that extends from the outcrop into the interior, blurring the threshold between landscape and built space. Floor-to-ceiling glazing wraps the addition, pressing glass directly against stone – a detail adapted from desert southwest architecture and reengineered for BC’s rain-heavy climate with integral drainage and thick insulation. The glass-to-stone junction passed ASTM field testing and exceeds BCBC Part 5 requirements, a technical achievement that earned the project its Most Innovative Feature CARE Award.

The result is a space that feels both sheltered and exposed: warm Douglas fir overhead and underfoot, raw bedrock pushing through the walls, and south-facing light filling the room.

A custom maple nook by Duff & Co. anchors the room, serving double duty as a workspace and a family gathering spot. The bedrock wall curves behind it. Greenway’s handmade light fixtures — lantern-like sconces crafted from Douglas fir offcuts — punctuate the interior with warm, textured light.

The homeowners had grown attached to the sound of rain falling on the rock. The design team responded by installing a spout that collects and recycles rooftop rainwater, sending it cascading over the bedrock face — a trickling fountain that runs even through dry summer months.

Looking back toward the original house, the connecting doors reveal the material shift between old and new — a deliberate transition that keeps the addition feeling like its own place while remaining seamlessly linked.

The addition’s green roof, planted collaboratively by the design team and the family’s children with native mosses, grasses, and sedums, ties the structure back to its surroundings. Seen from above, the full footprint of the annex becomes legible — glass, stone, and living vegetation layered into the slope.

The Photography

Photographing this project required two sessions to capture the full scope of the architecture and its relationship to the site. The initial visit coincided with mostly overcast skies and intermittent sun — workable conditions for interiors but limiting for the exterior story. Certain images, like the interior of the homeowner working at the nook with sunlight streaming across the Douglas fir, were built from multiple blended frames to bring together elements that the conditions wouldn’t deliver in a single exposure.

A second session was scheduled for a clear day to complete the exterior coverage. The site presented its own constraint: a stand of tall, mature trees along one edge of the backyard created a narrow window of direct light on the addition. Timing had to be precise.

The broader challenge of this architectural photography project reflected the design itself — a space defined by the meeting of very different materials and light conditions. Warm timber interiors against cool, textured rock. Bright south-facing glass opening onto shadowed bedrock. The photography needed to hold all of that in the frame without losing the nuance of either side.

The Outcome

The images from this project have served Greenway Studio Architecture and Frontera Homes extensively. They feature prominently on each firm’s website, respectively, and contributed to submissions that earned four CARE Awards in 2023: Best New Home Design Under 4,000 sq ft, Best Interior Under 4,000 sq ft, Most Innovative Feature, and Best Addition/Renovation.

Dwell magazine subsequently featured the project, and it was voted one of the publication’s Most Popular Houses of 2023.

TC Photography is an architectural and interior photographer serving architects, custom home builders, and interior designers across Victoria, Vancouver Island, and the Vancouver and Lower Mainland markets. To discuss photographing your next project, get in touch.

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