--- title: "Helliwell + Smith | Blue Sky Architecture — Architects & Building Designers | Houzz" canonical_html_url: https://www.houzz.com/professionals/architects-and-building-designers/helliwell-smith-blue-sky-architecture-pfvwus-pf~1955813425 markdown_url: https://www.houzz.com/md/professionals/pf~1955813425.md entity_type: LocalBusiness business_name: "Helliwell + Smith | Blue Sky Architecture" category: ["Architects"] image: https://st.hzcdn.com/fimgs/6283c49c0491dab4_4853-w400-h400-b0-p0--.jpg address: "West Vancouver, British Columbia V7V 3K1, Canada" latitude: 49.3426 longitude: -123.1659 phone: "(604) 921-8646" website: http://blueskyarchitecture.com/ rating: 5 review_count: 6 followers: 199 last_updated: 2026-09-11 --- # Helliwell + Smith \| Blue Sky Architecture Original Houzz profile: [Helliwell + Smith \| Blue Sky Architecture](https://www.houzz.com/professionals/architects-and-building-designers/helliwell-smith-blue-sky-architecture-pfvwus-pf~1955813425) ## Professional summary - **Primary category:** Architects - **Location:** West Vancouver, BC - **Serves:** Arbutus Ridge, Bowen Island, Burnaby, Coal Harbour, Fishermans Cove, Hastings-Sunrise, Hollyburn, Killarney, Kitsilano, Lions Bay, Lynn Creek, North Vancouver, Renfrew-Collingwood, Vancouver, West Point Grey, West Vancouver, Whistler, Whytecliff, Yaletown - **Houzz rating:** 5.0 out of 5 (6 reviews) ## About ### Houzz Badges - Star Houzzer - Houzz Influencer - Recommended on Houzz - 10,000 Ideabook Saves Blue Sky Architecture is the architecture and design practice of architects Bo Helliwell and Kim Smith. Based in West Vancouver since 1989, Blue Sky has built works in the Lower Mainland, the mountains, islands, and valleys of British Columbia, as well as national and international projects. First established in 1975 as Blue Sky Design on Hornby Island, they have evolved a design approach that is humane and works poetically and economically with site, local materials, climate and program. Blue Sky’s design approach has a long history of sustainability concerns and timber use. They have recently received awards as 2013 Architect of the Year from BC WoodWorks, and numerous awards, local, national and international for Design, Environmental and Energy Efficiency and Innovative Community Planning. A second monograph on their work; ‘Blue Sky Living’ has just been published. The book describes a body of work that includes environmental concerns and embodies the human spirit, transcending the act of shelter into something that shapes and enhances our lives. ### Services Provided - Architectural Design - Building Design - Custom Homes - New Home Construction - Sustainable Design - Energy-Efficient Homes - 3D Rendering - Green Building - Bathroom Design - Space Planning - Drafting - 3d home design ### Areas Served - Arbutus Ridge - Bowen Island - Burnaby - Coal Harbour - Fishermans Cove - Hastings-Sunrise - Hollyburn - Killarney - Kitsilano - Lions Bay - Lynn Creek - North Vancouver - Renfrew-Collingwood - Vancouver - West Point Grey - West Vancouver - Whistler - Whytecliff - Yaletown ### Typical Job Cost Architecture Design + Construction Costs ## Business Details | Field | Value | | --- | --- | | Business Name | Helliwell + Smith \| Blue Sky Architecture | | Address | West Vancouver, British Columbia V7V 3K1, Canada | | Phone | (604) 921-8646 | | Website | http://blueskyarchitecture.com/ | | License Number | n/a | | Followers on Houzz | 199 | **Social profiles:** - Facebook — https://www.facebook.com/pages/Blue-Sky-Architecture/184348344936080?ref=aymt\_homepage\_panel - Blog — www.blueskyarchitecture.com ## Offers (DEMO) OFFERS _(DEMO) DISCLAIMER_ ## Contact - **Houzz profile:** [Helliwell + Smith \| Blue Sky Architecture](https://www.houzz.com/professionals/architects-and-building-designers/helliwell-smith-blue-sky-architecture-pfvwus-pf~1955813425) - **Website:** http://blueskyarchitecture.com/ - **Phone:** (604) 921-8646 ## Credentials **Certifications & Awards** - Visit http://blueskyarchitecture.com/awards/ for a list of our awards. ## Reviews **Overall rating: 5.0 out of 5 — 6 reviews** ### All 6 reviews **★★★★★ — R. Parsons Construction Ltd., May 2016** > R. Parsons Construction has completed four significant residential projects with Blue Sky Architecture over a period of nearly fifteen years. One design consideration that sets Blue Sky apart from their competition is the way the buildings they design fit naturally into the site's landscape. While working on these projects the thought put into each particular house and the expertise of these architects becomes apparent, particularly relating to utilizing natural light and exposure to the sun. I have worked with many architects over almost 45 years in construction, and in my opinion, Blue Sky Architecture are standouts who are highly respected by their peers, clients, colleagues and associates. **★★★★★ — Vallely Architecture, May 2016** > I’ve been fortunate enough to have experienced all sides of Helliwell + Smith: Blue Sky Architecture from the young architect in training who deeply admired the quality of their work and wished some day to achieve their skill, to the eager intern architect working for them and experiencing first hand their commitment and dedication for both their clients and their craft, to now as a colleague who recognizes Helliwell + Smith: Blue Sky Architecture for who they are: one of the most important architectural contributors to our current West Coast contemporary vernacular. > > Helliwell + Smith: Blue Sky Architecture may have garnered national and international attention for the quality and creativity of their work but don’t let that intimidate you, Bo and Kim will put you at ease from the start and will show you first hand how enjoyable it can be to create beautiful architecture. > > Kevin Vallely > Architect AIBC MRAIC **★★★★★ — Janet Halliwell, Sept. 2015** > We selected Blue Sky Architecture as our preferred architectural firm for our retirement home on Salt Spring Island - recognizing the unique blend of creativity and practicality in the combined architectural team of Bo and Kim. They have wonderful huge sensitivity to the land and understand how to match the landscape and built environment. They were wonderful to work with and the outcome has been a joy. And two years later we went back to them for design of a studio-garage, an equal success. **★★★★★ — lvanduzer, April 2015** > I cannot recommend Kim Smith and Bo Helliwell of Blue Sky Architecture strongly enough. The architects and their assistants were a great pleasure to work with from beginning to end. I came to the project as a special client, the Director of the UBC School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture, with many ideas of my own. I always found Kim and Bo to be both receptive to pursuing my ideas and proactive in offering alternatives when theirs were better. The fast-tracked project unfolded during a particularly busy time in my life and they were wonderful at framing and narrowing the decisions I had to make. I could not be happier with the results of the project and what has become an enduring friendship. **★★★★★ — mikebev, March 2015** > From the beginning to the end of our project Bo, Kim, and their team were at all times professional, on time, on budget and enthusiastic. When we first discussed the project Bo & Kim commented about our eclectic mix of furniture and design features we wanted to incorporate into the design. They incorporated it all flawlessly with ingenuity and a fine eye for aesthetics and flow of design. We requested several major and minor changes through varying stages of construction that required extra engineering and additional work for the Blue Sky team. All we taken in stride and dealt with timely, efficiently and effectively. The end result is a beautiful house that is ideally positioned to take best advantage of the property and view which we enjoy every day. We very much enjoyed working with Bo and Kim and when we build again we will look no further then Blue Sky Architecture. > > Sincerely Mike & Bev **★★★★★ — christopherharvey, Feb. 2015** > Blue SkyArchitecture took our concept for a home on the Naramata Bench – that it be a work of art that make a seamless transition between the outside and inside world - and delivered beyond expectation. After coming to the site to observe the natural elements, and noting the trajectory of the sun, Bo and Kim proposed a design and location that suited the spot perfectly. They are creative, inspirational, very accommodating and a pleasure to work with. We could not be happier with them or the end result . ## Selected projects - [Booklovers House \| Sidney Island](https://www.houzz.com/hznb/projects/booklovers-house-sidney-island-pj-vj~864203) - Location: Not specified - Photos: 20 - Description: Completed 2006 \| 2,000 s.f. Inspired by the sweep of the shoreline and orientation to the sun, the house and garden form an oval in plan. The sunny courtyard is shaped and contained by the main house to the north and gate house/utility buildings to the south. These elements are connected by garden walls and trellis structures. The remainder of the site is left as a natural forest. The owners are Prairie bookstore operators who fell in love with Sidney Island, and now spend their summers in this… - [Naramata Bench House \| Okanagan, BC](https://www.houzz.com/hznb/projects/naramata-bench-house-okanagan-bc-pj-vj~831809) - Location: Not specified - Photos: 19 - Description: Completed 2014 \| House: 3,520 s.f., Studio: 530 s.f., Workshop/Garage: 1415 s.f. This three building complex curves along the brow of a hill. It overlooks Okanagan Lake and the vineyards of the Naramata Bench to the west. To the east lies the natural woodlands and hills of the Okanagan. The plan of the house and woodworking shop/garage form a concave curve, creating a sheltered courtyard that captures southern sun on the forest side. An artist’s studio is built into the hillside below the house.… - [Miracle Beach House \| Vancouver Island](https://www.houzz.com/hznb/projects/miracle-beach-house-vancouver-island-pj-vj~832102) - Location: Not specified - Photos: 19 - Description: Completed 2008 \| 4,600 s.f. This home and studio was planned as a grand sweeping crescent opening to spectacular vistas over a pebble beach, north across Georgia Strait to the Coast Mountains. Internal spaces flow along the ocean shore and open to embrace sun from the north side. Exposed glulam beams curve through space highlighting the circulation gallery and peaking a sense of curiosity as to what lies beyond. The arcs continue outside as a formalized and unifying landscape element between the… - [Harbour House \| West Vancouver, BC](https://www.houzz.com/hznb/projects/harbour-house-west-vancouver-bc-pj-vj~1258541) - Location: Not specified - Photos: 11 - Description: Complete 2008 \| 3,112 s.f. The site for this home is an almost impossible-to-build yet visually spectacular, solid granite cliff set just above a protected, yacht-filled harbour. This house is conceived as an extension of existing topographic lines, producing an architecture of dynamic curved walls and flying roofs that sweep across a rock face. - [Hill House \| Salt Spring Island](https://www.houzz.com/hznb/projects/hill-house-salt-spring-island-pj-vj~866238) - Location: Not specified - Photos: 17 - Description: Completed 2003 \| 5,200 s.f. Hill House is approached through a cool, shaded forest. Rough topography prompts an organic, curving plan that threads along a spine of exposed rocks. The design overhangs the ridge in some places while in others it nestles back into the hillside. The lower floor has been inserted into a niche in the rocks and its roof built out to anchor a large outdoor terrace above, thus creating the only readily adjacent outdoor space. - [Assiniboine River House \| Winnipeg, MB](https://www.houzz.com/hznb/projects/assiniboine-river-house-winnipeg-mb-pj-vj~832079) - Location: Not specified - Photos: 11 - Description: Completed 2009 \| 2,600 s.f. This house, built for a young family, sits on an urban lot in Winnipeg. It has a formal side on the road and a more informal open side to the Assiniboine River. A series of wooden screens create divisions in the open living spaces and echo the birch forests of Manitoba. A curving hall and stairway connects the front entrance to the main living areas in the home and continues out to the screened porch, pool, and river. - [Wakefield Beach Homes \| Sechelt, BC](https://www.houzz.com/hznb/projects/wakefield-beach-homes-sechelt-bc-pj-vj~861766) - Location: Not specified - Photos: 15 - Description: Completed 2005 \| 43 Units This 2-hecters (5 acres) south facing oceanfront site slopes down to a beautiful, pebble beach with views of the Georgia straight the trail Islands and Vancouver Island. Notions of building a completely new community and enhancing environmental conditions were part of the project from the beginning. 43 units of single family houses, duplexes, and triplexes are designed to fit in with and enhance the landscape. The buildings step down the site following the natural conto… - [Ridge House \| Salt Spring Island](https://www.houzz.com/hznb/projects/ridge-house-salt-spring-island-pj-vj~847361) - Location: Not specified - Photos: 13 - Description: Completed 2007 \| 3,200 s.f. Balanced on the spine of a rocky ridge, this linear house threads through a grove of arbutus trees. As you move through the house the gabled entrance roof gradually inverts into a butterfly roof opening to the light and views of the surrounding forest. The rhythm of the rafter roof structure is subtle and the spatial mood changes dramatically from enclosed and protective at the entrance to open and expansive in the living and dining areas. - [Rainforest House \| Tofino, BC](https://www.houzz.com/hznb/projects/rainforest-house-tofino-bc-pj-vj~847214) - Location: Not specified - Photos: 12 - Description: Completed 2008 \| 2,400 s.f. This house is sited in the heart of a mixed old growth rainforest on the west coast of Vancouver Island. The house is a family gathering place for an extended family of three generations. The plan of the house wraps around several giant red cedars on the north side of the house. A simple shed roof rises up to the towering cedar giants that are in some cases 8 feet in diameter. The house is a natural extension of the forest it sits in, both in form and in the material… - [Ucluelet House \| Ucluelet, BC](https://www.houzz.com/hznb/projects/ucluelet-house-ucluelet-bc-pj-vj~832093) - Location: Not specified - Photos: 7 - Description: Completed 2009 \| 3,500 s.f. Perched on a rocky shoreline above a protected cove on the west coast of Vancouver Island, this house nestles into its site. The home incorporates massive log timbers found in this region for a structural timber frame. Fine craftsmanship is displayed throughout in the timber frame, millwork and cabinetry. Clear cedar siding, black stone tiles and charcoal vinyl windows create a resilient skin for the stormy weather of the west coast. - [Cove House \| Gulf Islands, BC](https://www.houzz.com/hznb/projects/cove-house-gulf-islands-bc-pj-vj~832050) - Location: Not specified - Photos: 12 - Description: Completed 2010 \| 3,500 s.f. - [Oak Grove House \| Gulf Islands, BC](https://www.houzz.com/hznb/projects/oak-grove-house-gulf-islands-bc-pj-vj~832018) - Location: Not specified - Photos: 16 - Description: Completed 2011 \| 2500 s.f. The house’s plan turns like a curving trail set across the hillside, moving dynamically from social rooms to private ones. Spaces are revealed in sequential glimpses as the hallway wraps around the hill. Trees and mossy rocks are dramatically close to a circular hallway, blending the residence into the hillside. The fir roof structure is exposed, revealing solid rafters and decking touching down on posts, which are in turn, balanced on horizontal beams then vertical co… - [Fishbones House \| Gulf Islands, BC](https://www.houzz.com/hznb/projects/fishbones-house-gulf-islands-bc-pj-vj~831997) - Location: Not specified - Photos: 11 - Description: 1995 \| 3000 sq. ft The name for this house evolved into ‘Fishbones’, not a metaphor we began with but one which evolved with solving the contingencies of a narrow site wedged between road and rocky shore. The sensuality of the sandstone beach generated the curving and sensuous line of this house both in plan and section. We devised a ‘backbone’ bridge beam of 14’ diameter cedar logs parallel to the shore, interlaced with 9’ diameter log rafters set at various angles to form the view – exploiting… - [Condo Renovation \| Vancouver, BC](https://www.houzz.com/hznb/projects/condo-renovation-vancouver-bc-pj-vj~831693) - Location: Not specified - Photos: 10 - Description: Completed 2014 \| 620 square feet Originally built as a one bedroom suite in the Electra Building, an iconic mid century building in Vancouver, this 620 square foot condo was completely rebuilt as an open space filled with light and colour. By removing bedroom walls and adding a twenty foot storage wall and office area, the sense of space is much larger than the original. A consistent palette of Euro Birch Plywood and Maple Floors contribute to the lightness of the space and highlight the coloure… - [Solar Crest House \| Sidney Island, BC](https://www.houzz.com/hznb/projects/solar-crest-house-sidney-island-bc-pj-vj~831966) - Location: Not specified - Photos: 15 - Description: Completed 2010 \| 2800 s.f. Embracing a rugged rocky ridge on a remote island in Juan de Fuca Strait, Solar Crest is a completely off-grid home and garden. In section and plan, it combines a studied geometric formality with organic and sensuous elements that merge with its surrounding landscape of rounded glaciated granite. - [Bayridge House Renovation \| West Vancouver, BC](https://www.houzz.com/hznb/projects/bayridge-house-renovation-west-vancouver-bc-pj-vj~1258783) - Location: Not specified - Photos: 12 - Description: Completed 2009 \| 2,500 s.f. The original home, a mid-century modern gem originally designed by architect Barry Downs, was "set in a steep wooded ravine, this residence \[requiring\] an imaginative design response. Bridging the property with an elongated house plan, bent at it’s center to suit the land contour, was essential to mitigating challenging run-off water issues and maximizing a limited foundation ledge… The owners carried out this plan, creating a rock garden with catchment pond that enha… [See all 16 projects](https://www.houzz.com/professionals/architects-and-building-designers/helliwell-smith-blue-sky-architecture-pfvwus-pf~1955813425) ## Ideabooks - [indoor outdoor fireplaces](https://www.houzz.com/ideabooks/59295338/list/indoor-outdoor-fireplaces) — 4 ideas [See all 1 ideabook](https://www.houzz.com/ideabooks/users/blueskyarchitecture) ## Community Q&A **Q: Love the chains as down spouts but how does the gutter system work?** *(in Photo Questions)* A: Hello, Thank you for your interest in our work, and our apologies for the delay in answering your query. Custom perimeter gutter/drainage is built into the roof and drain to the rain chains. **Q: I looking for table to match these chairs round black** *(in Photo Questions)* A: These chairs are Wishbone Chairs by Hans Wegner. Good luck in your search! **Q: Ceiling Height** *(in Photo Questions)* Hi! Can you tell me what the ceiling height of this room is? Thank you! A: Hello - thank you for you interest in our work! The ceiling in the Booklovers' House varies, however it is approximately 14'-0" to the underside of the decking in this image. **Q: Floors** *(in Photo Questions)* What is the floor? Engineered, or hardwood, type? Thanks A: Hi There - thank you for getting in touch with us. The floors in this home are engineered hardwood, and bluestone tile. **Q: Kitchen curves** *(in Photo Questions)* Lovely, so pleasant and nicely done! Great design!! What line of cabinetry to handle to curves and angles? What type of wood was used to get the curved counter top? Thanks! A: Thank you for reaching out. These are custom cabinets, designed to the curve. If you have a kick-ass installer, I am sure they will have some ideas; best wishes for your future kitchen! **Q: Can you share your bluestone tile source?** *(in Photo Questions)* A: We source our bluestone through Adera Stone: http://www.houzz.com/pro/aderanaturalstonesupply/adera-natural-stone-supply http://www.aderastone.com/ --- *Source: Houzz professional profile. Reflects the profile as of 2026-09-11.*