Atypic Structural Design provides tailored engineering for high-end custom homes and distinctive smaller projects requiring detail, efficiency, and design sensitivity. Atypic blends holistic structural creativity with architectural intent to bring ambitious ideas to life.
RELEVANT PROJECTS
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![Modern custom home with exposed board formed concrete walls with integrated insulation.]()
Cloister House
Vancouver, BC
Within an urban lot on Vancouver’s West Side, Cloister House employs a hybrid structural system of glulam timber–concrete composite framing and internally insulated concrete walls, balancing thermal mass with the warmth of exposed wood. A custom polished steel slide playfully descends beside the central stair, while movable exterior shade panels provide both daylight control and convenient window access. The result is a finely crafted architectural composition where structure, material, and detail are fully integrated and expressed.
Role: Design Lead and EoR - F+E*
Architect: Measured
Photo: Nic Lehoux
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![side view]()
Forest Cabin
Salt Spring Island, BC
Nestled gently into the forest on Salt Spring Island, the Forest Cabins structure is elevated on slender steel braces and columns to protect the sensitive midden soils and tree-root systems beneath. The primary superstructure uses island-procured 2x timber, simplifying the framing and reducing construction sourcing logistic. The raised platform strategy enables the building to float above the woodland floor with minimal excavation and visual intrusion.
Role: Design Lead and EoR - F+E*
Architect: Helen Pang Architecture
Photo: Andrew Latreille
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![Exterior night]()
Airship Coffee Shop
Bentonville, AR
In the heart of the new Walmart Home Office campus in Bentonville, Arkansas, the café by Airship Coffee expresses a bold structural vision: a timber-rich environment anchored by mass timber framing, integrated with mechanical and electrical systems. Plywood shear walls in combination with steel moment frames offer maximum flexibility for the lateral system.
Designed by Gensler, this hybrid system delivers warmth and high performance. The result is a café-scale gesture of a sustainable jewelry box within the broader campus.
Role: Design Lead and EoR - F+E*
Architect: Gensler
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![An image of The Float House]()
Naramata Residence
Naramata, BC
Set atop a ridgeline with expansive valley views, the Naramata Residence employs high-performance structurally insulated panels (SIPs), nail-laminated timber canopies, and corten cladding feature walls. An integrated roof-panel system hides services while delivering clean lines, minimal penetrations and a seamless transition from frame to finish.
Role: Design Lead and EoR - F+E*
Architect: Allen + Mauer
Photo: Florian Mauer
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![Modern house on a rocky hillside surrounded by pine trees near a body of water, with a mountain in the background.]()
Endswell Residence
Bowen Island, BC
Perched on a forested cliffside, the Endswell Residence by Helen Pang Architecture features a large cantilevered roof that floats gracefully above the patio, creating a generous covered outdoor space protected from the elements. The entryway showcases exposed glulam purlins and long-span beams, bringing warmth to the building. A separate gym building employs simple gang-nailed trusses to achieve a thin, refined roofline inspired by Japanese architecture, while the carport utilizes a nail-laminated timber (NLT) roof supported on slender steel columns that lightly touch the ground.
Role: Design Lead and EoR - F+E*
Architect: Helen Pang Architecture
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![A small, rustic cabin with wood siding and a sloped roof is set in a forest with tall trees. There's an Adirondack chair in front of the cabin and a small fenced pathway nearby, with sunlight filtering through the trees.]()
Micro Sauna Bunky
Salt Spring Island, BC
The “Sleep. Work. Sweat Bunky” by Helen Pang Architecture is elevated on a piled foundation, intentionally avoiding high-carbon concrete foundations and minimizing site disturbance. Its raised superstructure floats above the terrain, reinforcing the lightness of framing while protecting the ground beneath. A durable steel-plate roof provides refined aesthetics and additional durability.
Role: Design Lead and EoR
Architect: Helen Pang Architecture
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![A modern take on the traditional A-frame house using CLT modular prefab construction.]()
Polyhaus Tetra-One
San Diego, CA
The Polyhaus Tetra-One embraces a mass timber modular system, using precise CLT components that allow the unit to be assembled rapidly with minimal waste. Its design places sustainability at the forefront—leveraging renewable timber, efficient fabrication, and a low-carbon enclosure. The modular geometry is inherently adaptable, enabling the same system to scale into larger footprints or alternate configurations for future living needs.
Role: Design Lead and EoR - F+E*
Architect: Daniel Lopez-Perez
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![Front view]()
Shore House
Mayne Island, BC
Perched on a cliff on Mayne Island, Shor House fuses meticulous craftsmanship with architectural finesse. Its corten steel clad massing is framed with salvaged yellow cedar and utilized previous foundations where possible to reduce the embodied carbon impact to the project. The design places recycled timbers alongside minimal steel elements to create a structure both refined and rugged. The result is an elegant retreat where the simplicity of structure and richness of material narrate a story of reuse, restraint and rooted site integration.
Role: Design Lead and EoR - F+E*
Architect: Measured
Photo: Ema Peter
ABOUT
Atypic Structural Design Inc. is owned and operated by Ian Boyle, a sole practitioner by design. Founded in 2025, Atypic was created to deliver structural engineering services that align closely with architectural intent.
Ian graduated from the University of Utah in 2002 and spent nearly 24 years at Fast + Epp, where he became a Principal and worked on many ambitious projects across N.America. That experience shaped his appreciation for design finesse, collaboration, and a holistic approach to structural engineering.
Strong relationships, attentive service, and close collaboration with architects and builders are central to the practice. Drawing on deep experience across all primary structural materials, with particular expertise in hybrid timber systems, each project is approached with creativity, economy, and technical clarity to help ambitious designs remain achievable. A consistent focus is placed on reducing embodied carbon through material efficiency and selecting the right material for its use.
Atypic is focused on custom homes and other design-driven projects where thoughtful collaboration and a holistic approach matter most. Whether the goal is quiet simplicity or expressive form, Atypic brings the experience and craft needed to support beautiful designs.
SERVICES
High-End Custom Homes
Small Unique Projects
Independent/Peer Review
Feasibility Studies
LICENSES
CANADA
Struct.Eng. | British Columbia
P.Eng | Alberta, Ontario
USA
S.E. | WA, CA, UT, AZ
P.E. | HI, NY, CO, AR, TX, DC, MA, MN, MT, IA
OTHER PROJECT EXPERIENCE
BCIT Tall Timber Student Housing
The BCIT Tall Timber Student Residence exemplifies innovation in sustainable construction, utilizing mass timber with a hybrid structural design that leverages point-supported CLT slabs supported on steel columns. Prefabricated steel cores and lateral-brace systems were erected offsite in multi-storey lifts to accelerate schedule and maximize quality control. The result is a striking, low-carbon student housing tower that pushes the boundaries of timber engineering.
Role: Engineer of Record and Design Lead - F+E*
Architect: Perkins & Will
Walmart Home Campus
Spanning a 350-acre campus in Bentonville, Walmart’s new Home Office uses hybrid mass timber construction across 12 four and five-storey office buildings. Each building varies from 180,000sf to 250,000sf, featuring CLT floors, CLT shearwalls, hybrid girders and columns, and leverages prefabrication to optimize schedule, quality, and embodied carbon reduction. The result balances structural performance, architectural warmth, and sustainable ambition.
Role: Engineer of Record and Design Lead | 11 Office Buildings and Fitness Center - F+E*
Architect: Gensler, Page, Duda Paine, & MBL
SFU Lorne Davies Grandstand
The grandstand at SFU’s Lorne Davies complex features dramatic cantilevered steel box beams over the stadium seating, creating an elegant overhang that appears to float above the crowd. Point-supported CLT panels are hung from 5 steel box girders above, using steel for the heavy lifting and the timber for lightness. Stainless steel tie-downs are used for the propped cantilever to anchor to the concrete base, while precast concrete tiered seating is used for durability and to support the fans.
Role: Engineer of Record and Design Lead - F+E*
Architect: Perkins & Will
Photo: Andrew Latreille
INQUIRIES