With our city now so laughably unaffordable, thousands of Vancouverites are stuck imagining wonderful homes instead of living in them. Spaced is a record of our minds wandering the world of architecture and design, up and away from the unrewarding realities of shoebox condos, dark basement suites, sweet f~ck all on Craigslist and three levels of government that couldn’t give a damn.

When the weather gets like it is today – wet, miserable, possibly ending with snow – it’s easy to think of our homes as fortresses against the elements, places of cozy respite in the blistering whirlwind. This three-level, single family construction on a mountain slope in Trin, Switzerland is that thought writ large as a reality. The home, dubbed The Trin Cabin, is actually a renovation, with local firm Schneller Caminada Architects essentially modernizing-by-fortifying an existing structure with new wood and a concrete casing.

The stark interior is a mix of concrete and wooden surfaces. Huge glazed window panels afford views of the surrounding countryside and invite plenty of natural light in to illuminate the dining room, kitchen, living room, two bedrooms, library and studio, all of which can be accessed by the central core of the building. If we could somehow lift it up and move it to British Columbia, we would set it down near a dome of granite outside Squamish, where we would hunker down in comfortable hibernation until the sun came back.