Nelson Rocha

A Studio 9 project, the Yaqan Nukiy School, was recently featured in Kootenay Business Magazine.  The school was completed in April of this year and is being happily used by students and faculty relieved to be out of temporary trailers and in a vibrant, new learning space.

Teamed with Stantec, Studio 9 was successful in their bid to design a brand new Student Learning Centre for Selkirk College’s Silver King Campus in Nelson, BC.  The building is part of a larger $18.9 million project that includes substantial upgrades to the campus’s trades buildings which Studio 9 will also be involved with.  The new Student Learning Centre will become the new face of the Silver King Campus and aims to present itself with prominence in the community.  The building will house all administrative staff, a student lounge and cafeteria, as well as an Aboriginal Gathering space.  Completion of the new centre is expected to be in October 2017.

After coming under new ownership in 2015, the Silver Tip Lodge, once part of the Canadian Mountain Holidays empire, is planning for a successful heli-skiing season.  Nestled at the foot of the Cariboo Mountains on the east end of Quesnel Lake, the lodge provides guests with spectacular mountain accommodations in a beautiful natural setting.  Studio 9 assisted Silver Tip Lodge with the layout of the communal lodge to ensure guests are able to enjoy a nice glass of wine or cold refreshing beer after a blissful day in the mountains.

The city of Nelson has long been known for it’s variety of cuisine and commitment to high quality food.  Now Studio 9 is helping to bring a new restaurant to the downtown core.  Red Light is a farm to table restaurant specializing in bone broths and organic ramen noodles.  It will make it’s debut this spring on the 300 block of Herridge Lane.

The Savoy building on the west end of Baker Street is getting a face lift with the help of Studio 9.  The owners of Shambhala Music Festival Ltd. purchased the building two years ago and have recently completed Nelson’s newest entertainment venue, Bloom Nightclub.   Our team of creative, talented designers, consultants, and contractors is now focusing our efforts on creating this towns preeminent food, entertainment, and accommodation establishment.  The Savoy’s new facade will be a dramatic departure from the previous wood shingle and banana peel stucco look from decades past and will give our busiest street some vibrant new character.

Studio 9 Architecture + Planning has been selected by the Kootenay Co-op to lead the design on a brand new 19,000 ft² store located in downtown Nelson’s largest mixed used development, Nelson Commons.  We have been working closely with the development team and local contractors and consultants to bring Nelson a beautiful new space to host one of the Kootenay’s most successful and fastest growing cooperatives.  The new store is expected to be open for business this summer!

Creston’s Lower Kootenay Band has been running a successful primary school program on their forested lands for years. Enrollment at the Yaqan Nukiy School program has exploded in recent years which has resulted in the need for more classroom and administration space.  This new school designed by Studio 9 is currently under construction and slated for completion in May 2016.

The North Shore Hall located at 675 Whitmore Road in Nelson has just recently undergone extensive exterior and interior upgrades designed and administered by Studio 9 Architecture.  Over the past decade this community built hall that has been a long standing piece of Kootenay architecture and an important shared asset to the local community has fallen into disrepair and become severely underutilized.  The North Shore Hall is located near the orange bridge and is easily accessible to people from Nelson as well as residents from surrounding areas.  The renovation will keep the hall safe and open to the public for years to come.  The hall space on the main floor is available for rent through the RDCK while the lower floor will be used by Nelson Search and Rescue.  A second phase of renovations and improvements are scheduled for 2016 which include a new floor and kitchen among other things.

Nelson Rocha is now a freshly minted architect!  Nelson has been with Steven and Studio 9 almost since the beginning and has recently become a registered architect with the Architectural Institute of British Columbia.  It has been an extremely long and arduous road filled with years of schooling, exams, courses, and working with Steven but the reward has finally come.  Please welcome Nelson to this new phase in his career.  Congratulations!