When a young couple secured a wooded lakeside site in Lanaudière (north of Montreal), they commissioned STOA Architecture to design a retreat which would embrace their love for indoor/outdoor living.
The home is organised as a sort of contemporary reimagining of the “dogtrot house” style, comprised of two separate volumes spanned by a continuous flat roof.
The primary volume hosts the entertainment spaces and four bedrooms, while the secondary one contains a screened porch and the garage. Between both volumes is a large circulation/aeration space. This space provides covered access to the main area while simultaneously framing a stunning view of the lake off in the distance. The roof of the passage has a circular opening that allows the elements through.
The relationship between the indoors and outdoors is established with several clever design choices. For example, transparency is effectively used, with the generous glazing mirroring the abundant woodland surrounding the building.
This relationship also seems to have been the guiding principle behind the outward appearance of the home. It mimics the geology of its setting.
The exterior walls are covered in eastern white cedar while the building profile is comprised of two horizontal strata (the roof and main floor). These are clad in western red cedar, which blends both geometrically and visually with the woodland and its stratified emergent rocks.
The floor even abandons its horizontal orientation in places to bend in response to the specifics of the exposed bedrock beneath it.
This theme is replicated throughout the dwelling. The walls are mostly white and panelled wood is featured on most of the finishings, with western red cedar used once again on the fascia and terrace applications.
As a firm believer of functional simplicity in design, I am in love with everything this habitat represents. Its beauty lies in its understated modesty and its capacity to blends effortlessly into its natural surroundings.
This home does very little to “stand out” from the landscape, which is what makes it outstanding to me.
For more, take a look at more outstanding work from STOA Architecture.
The stunning photographs are courtesy of Normand Rajotte.
For more Houseporn articles on countryside homes in Quebec, take a look at these two articles:
Quebec’s Cabane 217 By Bourgeois Lechasseur Architectes
Quebec’s Rosenberry Residence by Les Architectes FABG
Researched and Written by Yinoluwa Olowofoyeku, Undergraduate Student of Architectural Design at the University of Toronto.
