The upper storey of this forest house near Ottawa tasks out from the landscape, making a cantilevered residing area providing views by way of the trees in the direction of a nearby lake .
The house is located in the Val-des-Monts district to the north of the Canadian capital and was developed by regional studio Christopher Simmonds Architect as a retreat for a loved ones who enjoy swimming, canoeing and kayaking.
The building’s decrease level emerges from the wooded hillside internet site, and is made up of a bedroom and mechanical services that are partially buried in the slope. A den at the front is flanked by a full-height window overlooking the water.
The upper storey homes two bedrooms at the rear and an open-program kitchen, dining and living location that projects towards the lake.
“The cottage was developed as a passage to the lakeside,” undertaking architect Rick Shean told Dezeen. “As you strategy the unassuming blank facade from the driveway, the developing resembles a simple shed sitting in the forest. As you move through the cottage it steadily opens up to a full view of the lake from the cantilevered living area.”
Visually the building is separated into two intersecting volumes – one that is tall and thin, and one more that is brief and lengthy.
The very first of these volumes – which encompasses all of the ground floor and part of the level over – is clad with partially weathered steel that evokes the texture of the rocks and earth on the internet site.
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The majority of the upper level is clad in strips of eastern white cedar, arranged horizontally to emphasise the length of the constructing.
A narrow path meanders up the slope in the direction of the house’s entrance, which is situated on the upper level. A wooden deck on the west facade opens onto a hallway connecting the bedrooms and bathroom at one finish with the residing areas at the other.
A unit containing the sink and integrated storage produces a all-natural divide among the kitchen and the dining area, which is connected to a huge deck by sliding glass doors. Beyond this, total-height glazing extends around the corner of the residing room – designed to emphasise the sense of floating above the sloping ground.
“The linear prepare and cantilever articulate the passage to the lake and the cottage’s position on the cliff’s edge,” extra Shean. “The cantilever is used to create a sense of closeness to the water.”
The stairwell that descends from the dining spot to the decrease storey incorporates massive glazed panels to ensure organic light and views reach the interior on each amounts.
The den at the bottom of the stairs is flanked by a large picture window, beside which is a door that opens onto the gravel path that provides a direct route into the forest.
White oak boards are used during the interior for flooring and to line the principal hallway. The use of timber complements the surrounding woodland and is continued in the bathroom, exactly where the vanity unit is developed from silver maple.
Photography is by Doublespace Photography.
Basement floor prepare 
Ground floor strategy Dezeen
