Trent Rodney on West Coast Modern: Architecture that Speaks, Spaces that Inspire.

Trent Rodney on West Coast Modern: Architecture that Speaks, Spaces that Inspire.

Episode 102 of The Craft features West Coast Modern co-founder Trent Rodney.

The Craft has profiled Canada’s leading creatives—from National Geographic journalists and Netflix design hosts to the marketing head at Herschel, SSENSE’s art director, and the principal at Leckie Studio.

Each episode offers a quiet window into the spirit of the guest and the world they’re shaping.

Now in Season Five, The Craft turns its lens to West Coast Modern co-founder Trent Rodney, exploring a story rooted in architecture, culture, and the enduring meaning of home.

"In our first episode of season five, we begin in the suburbs of Coquitlam, where a young boy sketched houses and dreamed of becoming an architect. For West Coast Modern co- founder Trent Rodney, his story has always been about home.

Raised by a hardworking single mother, he inherited not only hustle but also an early reverence for the spaces we live in. His career began in finance at the National Bank of Canada, where nearly a decade of work revealed his natural instinct for marketing—through cold calling, building client relationships, and developing large-scale educational events featuring speakers like Kevin O'Leary of The Dragons' Den."

"After leaving finance and a short stint with a start-up real estate developer, Trent did odd jobs and spent time in the forest, where lying on a granite rock in the river helped him heal, recalibrate, and connect with the world differently. This led him to architecture—not through blueprints, but through Frank Lloyd Wright, modern design, and a fascination with the cultural life of homes. He began researching, cataloging BC’s modern houses, walking streets and doorknocking to discover hidden gems. Encouraged by mentors like Don Gurney and inspired by The Modern House UK, West Coast Modern Homes was born.

Trent doesn’t see homes simply as assets but as living artifacts—vessels of culture, memory, and human well-being. In this conversation, we explore the genesis of his love for homes, creating marketing campaigns that stop people in their tracks, architecture as art, and how spaces shape our emotional and spiritual lives.

Loved this expansive dialogue on the meaning of home and the stories our spaces hold with the visionary Trent Rodney."