Highwood Crossing Foods is an organic food producer rooted in the foothills and farmland near High River, built on a straightforward commitment to food that is natural, uncomplicated, and sustainably made. The client needed a building to match: one that would age well, ask almost nothing of them over time, and sit honestly within its rural setting. Low maintenance, long life, and a starting point that was already there, an existing utilitarian structure and a defined budget.
Rather than fight the building’s utilitarian bones, we worked with them. We used the materials already on hand, then added companion elements: a four post canopy, a green roof, and a functional, deliberately designed gutter system. The choices were practical, but they were also fitting. For a producer whose values centre on keeping the soil healthy and lowering their footprint, a building of naturally weathering materials and a living roof reads as an extension of the brand rather than a backdrop to it. Material choices were made for how they would change, not resist change. The timber was selected to weather over time, and the metals to age in tune with it.
The result is a building that ages with intent rather than grace, and is none the worse for it. Very little about it will ever require maintenance, and yet it will never look as though maintenance is required. Relaxed, weathered, unfussy, and honest about where it stands.
