Laura Killam Architecture is a small interdisciplinary design studio whose work seeks to enrich experience through the spaces we create.
Specializing in custom residential projects situated on remote, wild sites along the BC coast, the studio looks for design solutions that combine function and aesthetics to produce quiet, understated architecture. Project scopes encompass defining a site in the wilderness, planning for infrastructure and access, master planning for today and for the next generation, and designing both the architecture and interiors. LKA strives to make spaces that are deeply connected to their site, that delight in beauty both within and outside of the building, and that respond meaningfully to a client’s needs. Each project aims to engage in a conversation with the unique characteristics of the site that it inhabits. Each design aims to connect the inhabitants to the natural setting through curating the experience of moving through the landscape, exploring the shift of views, light and shadow, and finding a balance of shelter and expansiveness. Influenced by the ethos of Sea Ranch California, the West Coast Modernists, and a vision to conserve the natural environment, the studio aims to design buildings that play second to their natural setting. LKA aims to create spaces where people can breathe.
Laura Killam
Principal, Architect AIBC
Laura is a BC native, from both Vancouver and an off-grid island up the BC coast. With multi-disciplinary experience as an architect, exhibition designer, and film set designer, Laura brings an expertise in creating innovative and meaningful spatial environments. Prior to forming Laura Killam Architecture in 2017, Laura worked as an architect at PUBLIC Architecture & Communication, an award-winning design firm based in Vancouver, BC. Previous to her time at PUBLIC, Laura was the Head of Exhibit Design and Production at the Canadian Centre for Architecture in Montreal, and worked as both an architect and exhibit designer for Gehry Partners in Los Angeles.
Laura received her Masters in Architecture from Yale University where she was a Feldman Award Nominee, and her BFA from Concordia University in Montreal. She is a licensed architect in British Columbia and Washington State and is a LEED AP.
Laura is an adjunct faculty instructor at the UBC School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture. Previously, she has taught in the Architectural Science department at the BCIT School of Construction and in the Design Formation program at Langara College.
Patrick Mella
Intern Architect AIBC
Patrick joined LKA in June 2022 shortly after completing his Master of Architecture Degree at the University of British Columbia SALA. Prior to UBC, he studied Environmental Design at Dalhousie University in Halifax, NS and has worked at architecture firms in both Vancouver and Edmonton. Outside of the office, Patrick has a deep appreciation of the outdoors, spending time either hiking, camping, or climbing. This love for the natural landscapes resonates with him throughout design, showing deep consideration for siting and materiality, evident in his final graduate project which recontextualized the backcountry as a spiritual landscape, and the shelter as sacral architecture.
Previous Collaborators
Parker Albanese
Christine Rohrbacher
Andy Grellmann
Patrick Birch
Chris Forrest
Karen Lai
Christien Murphey
Warren Scheske
Chris Sklar
Ross Wood