In the Cabin country of Ontario Canada, a small remote town with a conservative architectural context, SAOTA designs a summer house at the bank of Lake Huron which enhances the experiences of family getaway.
With a radical departure from traditional architecture, SAOTA takes an aesthetic approach that keeps the design unobtrusive and sensitive to its setting, while still making an architectural statement. The house attempts to extend the possibilities of the traditional lakeside family retreat through a contemporary architectural approach. It harnesses recent developments in design, technology and sustainability to connect meaningfully with its beautiful natural setting. It also explores new ways of enhancing the lifestyle experience of the family summer getaway.
Conceptually, the summer house consists of a series of stacked and suspended rectangular boxes. One box is embedded into the ground plane. The other suspends over to allow the living level to exist between the volumes. An indoor/outdoor volume to the south anchors the building and maximises the site’s lakeside views while allowing the living spaces to occupy the foreground. A bank of bedrooms projects backwards above the garage.
The site is a bluff occupying the transitional space between water and forest. It rises 3.5m from the road level and then drops down to the water to create a grassy embankment. A design set back on the property preserves the natural bluff towards the street to preserve the natural bluff. On approach, the surrounding mature fir trees conceal the house. It appears as a simple light-coloured stone box floating between the tree trunks.
The rear of the house has a two-storey wall of glass washing natural light deep into the interiors. These fir trees obscure the building from the street and in turn screens views of the lake helps build suspense on arrival. This is to satisfy the sense of anticipation on the entry of the summer house via the large pivot door. A dramatic triple-volume atrium lets in natural light from the threshold and draws the eye outwards towards the viewer.
Programmatically, the spaces of the summer house are fluid. The levels easy to navigate and the layout is simple and well-structured, allowing for a casual atmosphere. The vast central volume contrasts the intimate and contained volumes in the kitchen. This combined with other living spaces creates a varied and articulated spatial experience.
On the upper level, the master bedroom houses the owners’ private space. It also includes an office and a gym. At the front of the house, a covered outdoor entertainment area flanks a swimming pool. A boardwalk and staircase descend to a refurbished cabin that predated the house. The cabin now houses a guest suite and additional outdoor entertainment area to facilitate long summer activities on the lake.
However, the client’s favourite room is the ‘engine room’ on the lowest floor, which houses all the building services infrastructure. A commercial-grade Building Automation System (BAS) controls and monitors the home, ensuring optimum performance at all times. A 15kw solar array provides power to the home and excess power is regularly fed back into the utility grid for credit and later use.
The limited municipal infrastructure for stormwater and sewer resulted in an on-property underground stormwater system. The system can handle a 100-year storm and an Eco-Flo septic system to deal with all sewer requirements on site.
Finally, the finishes of the summer house, externally and internally, favour a ceramic panelled system. Its robust and hard-wearing nature is enough to prove long-lasting in the extremes of the Canadian climate. This together with the home’s energy efficiency, the longevity of the project, its materials, components and fittings contribute to its sustainability.
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