Projects · 2023

Built to grow, already growing.

Every structure below is standing on someone's land right now — in Surrey, Richmond and Abbotsford. Different owners, very different reasons. Here is what each one was actually for.

High tunnel in Surrey, BCSurrey High tunnel in Richmond, BCRichmond Nursery high tunnel in Abbotsford, BCAbbotsford Hoop house in South Surrey, BCS. Surrey High tunnel in Abbotsford, BCAbbotsford
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Sun & Steel high tunnel in Surrey, BC with a Bobcat T190 skid steer parked at the open end

Commercial grow

Surrey

Room to grow, and room to drive into.

Location
Surrey, BC
Completed
July 2023
Type
High tunnel
Length
100 ft

This grower had simply run out of room. Production had outgrown what they were working in, and the brief was blunt — build bigger, and build it so machinery can get inside without a fight. The result is a wide-span high tunnel with a full-height opening at the end: the skid steer drives straight in, turns, and drives back out.

The sidewalls roll up, so summer heat vents on its own without a bank of fans running all day, and the gothic peak sheds rain and snow instead of letting it pool overhead.

Outdated model See the updated 2025 High Tunnel
Sun & Steel high tunnel in Richmond, BC used for covered storage, with palms and stock kept inside on a gravel pad

Storage & overwintering

Richmond

Covered storage that never sees a heating bill.

Location
Richmond, BC
Completed
May 2023
Type
High tunnel
Length
50 ft

Not every build is about growing. This one is covered storage for a small business that had priced out a conventional heated building and did not like the number. A poly structure on a gravel pad came in well under it, and the savings keep going after handover: the greenhouse does not need to be heated to do its job, and daylight through the cover means the lights stay off through the working day.

Through summer they open the sides for airflow and run a shade tarp over the top, so the space stays workable instead of turning into an oven. Stock stays dry year round, and the whole footprint went up in days rather than months.

Outdated model See the updated 2025 High Tunnel
Sun & Steel nursery high tunnel on a roadside parcel in Abbotsford, BC with young trees planted alongside

Nursery & tree stock

Abbotsford

A second income, started under cover.

Location
Abbotsford, BC
Completed
March 2023
Type
High tunnel
Length
60 ft

A realtor with a roadside parcel and a plan for a side business: grow trees. Nursery stock is patient work — the return is years out, and most of the risk sits in the first couple of seasons, while everything is still small enough for a cold snap or a windstorm to wipe out.

The tunnel takes that risk off the table. Stock gets a controlled start and a longer working season at both ends before it ever goes out to open ground. Sited along the road, where it doubles as its own advertising.

Outdated model See the updated 2025 High Tunnel
Sun & Steel hoop house in South Surrey, BC with a tractor and stacked hay bales at the open end

Mixed farm use

South Surrey

Growing space in spring, dry storage by November.

Location
South Surrey, BC
Completed
April 2023
Type
Hoop house
Length
100 ft

Another farm that needed more covered ground, but a different shape suited it. This one sits on mown lawn a short walk from the house, so the round hoop profile made the better neighbour — lower and softer than a peaked tunnel, and it settles into the treeline instead of standing over it.

Both ends open, which turned out to be the part the owner uses most. The tractor pulls straight through, hay stacks at the far end, and what is a growing space through spring becomes dry equipment and feed cover once the weather turns.

Outdated model See the updated 2025 Hoop Tunnel
Sun & Steel high tunnel in Abbotsford, BC with both ends open, tilled beds inside and a tractor working the ground

Home food growing

Abbotsford

The garden did not wait for the house to finish.

Location
Abbotsford, BC
Completed
November 2023
Type
High tunnel
Length
150 ft

A family partway through building their home, who decided the growing space should not have to wait for the last inspection. The goal was straightforward: feed themselves off their own land. The tunnel went up over freshly tilled ground with the tractor still working inside it.

Both ends open wide for airflow and access, the beds run the full length, and the Fraser Valley season gains useful weeks at each end of the year. Finished in November — which is exactly when you want to be ready for spring.

Outdated model See the updated 2025 High Tunnel

What is next

Your build is the next one on this page

Tell us what you are growing toward and we will size the structure around it — or start shaping it yourself in the 3D configurator and send the design over when it looks right.

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