Damon Hayes Couture
Studio North
Calgary, Canada
I am a designer and builder based in Calgary, Canada. As Partner + Creative
Director at Studio North, I oversee projects of a range of scales, from
flat pack furniture and public art installations to laneway housing and
mountainside hotels. Our work has been published in a growing number of
local and international publications such as Canadian Architect, archdaily,
and Dwell. Prior my career in architecture, I studied social and political
philosophy and aesthetics while working with a contractor restoring
heritage homes. In a way, I see architecture as a synthesis of philosophy
and construction; knowing not only how to build, but deeply considering
why and what we build.
I recently wrote the introduction to Cabins: Escape to Nature, a book
which recounts the rustic and romantic history of cabins and explores
some exceptional examples of contemporary cabin design. Two of Studio
North’s experimental cabin constructions, Bird Hut and Dream/Dive, were
featured projects in the publication. I am currently collaborating with Images
Publishing on a book tentatively titled, Under the Sun, about lush and lightfilled spaces for plants and people. Studio North has specialized in such
spaces since we completed Home Away, a greenhouse addition I designed
as a student intern, which was published in Canadian Architect. Most
evenings and weekends, I can be found happily puttering around his house,
greenhouse, and garden: experimenting, building, growing, and enjoying.