Isotope

Blueberry Island is at the north end of Lake Joseph and has, until recently, remained vacant. The island has long been a destination for picknickers in Muskoka with the tacit permission of the out of province owners.

The new owners have a cottage on the mainland and had long admired the site as a potential gathering place for family and friends and wanted to preserve its natural character. The site has no power, so the decision was to build a small off-grid pavilion and boathouse to use on summer weekends for picnics and camping.

The new pavilion houses one bedroom and a gathering room with fireplace; there is an additional outbuilding spa with bathroom and shower. The boathouse has two slips and one open space on the second floor for recreation or sleeping.

The pavilion was designed to have a minimum impact on the site and to not be visible from the water. This was achieved by removing as few trees as possible and integrating the building into the sloping landscape. The main gathering space is glass enclosed with sliding doors that open at the corners to maximize the connection with the outdoors and deconstruct the envelope of the building when opened.

Exterior materials include Parklex Prodema siding, and a zinc roof with metal clad windows for minimal maintenance.

The entire building is powered by solar panels and a battery array which can support limited use indefinitely and is completely off-grid.

The site included an existing seasonal cottage that had been built in the early 1980s. The building was now showing its age and was due for either replacement or major renovations.

The new owners have a cottage on the mainland and had long admired the site as a potential gathering place for family and friends and wanted to preserve its natural character. The site has no power, so the decision was to build a small off-grid pavilion and boathouse to use on summer weekends for picnics and camping.

The new pavilion houses one bedroom and a gathering room with fireplace; there is an additional outbuilding spa with bathroom and shower. The boathouse has two slips and one open space on the second floor for recreation or sleeping.

The pavilion was designed to have a minimum impact on the site and to not be visible from the water. This was achieved by removing as few trees as possible and integrating the building into the sloping landscape. The main gathering space is glass enclosed with sliding doors that open at the corners to maximize the connection with the outdoors and deconstruct the envelope of the building when opened.

Exterior materials include Parklex Prodema siding, and a zinc roof with metal clad windows for minimal maintenance.

The entire building is powered by solar panels and a battery array which can support limited use indefinitely and is completely off-grid.

This property is part of a family compound located on the west side of Lake Simcoe, north of Toronto, Ontario.

The site combined two former lots which were occupied by two older frame family cottages. Lake Simcoe is a large lake and the shoreline is subject to ice heaving and wave erosion so local authorities required specific measures to rehabilitate and protect the shoreline with a landscaped rubble wall. An extensive planning process was undertaken to ensure the protection of the shoreline while providing new fish breeding habitat.

The new one-storey house spans the site to maximize views of the lake from principal rooms. Glimpses of the lake are visible from the exterior through windows located on both the entrance side and lake side, but it is only after one leaves the entrance vestibule and enters the great room that the full lake panorama is revealed. The great room houses the kitchen, dining room and living room with a large fireplace and a cathedral ceiling which rises to a clerestorey strip window that allows for full daylight. The owners have four children, thus four bedrooms, a primary bedroom and den are located on on the main floor.

The deck area overlooking the lake accommodates a lap and leisure pool with hot tub as well as an outdoor kitchen and a pavilion for shade. There is a stair to the lower level with access to the change rooms and sauna. This stair also acts as a light well to introduce daylight into the building’s lower level where there is a dedicated home theatre, bar area, fireplace and wine cellar.

Exterior materials are Swisspearl fibre-cement wall cladding, board formed concrete and a standing seam metal roof, as well as the stone fireplace. All material choices were made with a directive of keeping the building low to no maintenance without compromising the building’s longevity. Interior materials include oak hardwood floors, whitewashed ash wall paneling and white oak cabinets, as well as the Douglas fir heavy-timber roof.

Exterior cladding not only includes batt insulation between the studs but also an additional layer of exterior insulation behind the fiber cement rainscreen which removes any thermal bridging and provides an R-value of 30 to the assembly.

This house is situated on a spectacular west facing point on Lake Muskoka.

The existing property had a small cabin on the point which was replaced with a new cottage oriented parallel along the point with views to the north, south and west. The great room has glass on both sides to capitalize on the view in both directions, and is terminated at the end by a fireplace, behind which is a west facing screened porch. The great room includes a large central kitchen and a dining room bay which faces the lake to the northwest.

A large entry hall, powder room and pantry are centrally located near the entrance and behind the kitchen to accommodate the functions of a large family cottage and storage of bulk food supplies.

The layout of the bedroom wing has a central corridor that accesses bedrooms on both sides, allowing all six bedrooms lake views to the north and south. A large, vaulted skylight in the corridor serves to mitigate its length, this skylight along with a small courtyard at the end provides ample daylight throughout the corridor. Several bedrooms have been designed for family members with special needs and are fully accessible. The primary suite is fully glazed at the end of the bedroom wing and has spectacular views out to the lake.

A new three slip boathouse is located on the south side of the point which provides shelter for boat access and a protected area for sunbathers. A one-bedroom suite is located on the second floor with a large deck facing south.

The cottage is designed to be barely visible from the water and is carefully integrated into the existing landscape with minimal removal of the existing tree cover.

The owners have had extensive experience cottaging in Muskoka. They sold their cottage on Lake Muskoka and purchased the new property which had become vacant, save for a newly completed boathouse on the shoreline.

The site posed challenges as the topography at the proposed building site sloped steeply up from the shoreline to a ridge. The zoning setbacks restricted the constructable area to a zone behind the lakeside ridge. The proposed design would need to address this so that the main level would have a view of the water below.

The design solution was to create a basement level for storage below the main living area by raising the main floor above the ridge and concealing the basement. The building follows the shoreline and creates an ‘L’ shaped plan with bedrooms at opposite ends of the great room and other living spaces. The primary suite at one end is separated from the rest of the bedrooms and includes an ensuite bathroom, closet, and private screened porch. The bedroom wing at the opposite end is two storeys, taking advantage of the topography which falls away along this wing. At the angle between the two wings on the main floor is a family room and staircase which connects the upper and lower levels. Beneath the family room is a multi-purpose storage area with a hot tub and sitting area below the screened porch and adjacent through the outdoor underpass.

The outdoor underpass connects the entry side with the lakeside and the rooms above form a bridge over it. This walkway provides access to a storage area below the great room and a hot tub spa on the adjacent side while providing lake access from the parking area.

The building program also included a large sports pavilion, sports court and garage that can double as an indoor basketball half-court in inclement weather. These out-buildings frame the approach to the cottage upon entry to the site.

This house, located in a remote part of Haliburton, is built into the site which slopes toward the lake.

The long narrow design of the footprint allows most principal rooms a view of the lake while integrating the building into the hillside without creating an extremely high building on the lake side. In contrast, the games room and entertainment area are designed to be more enclosed, to create a more “cocooned” atmosphere as opposed to the open daylit spaces on the view side. The design integrates the interior and exterior using floor to ceiling and wall to wall glass, opening clerestorey windows and by making indoor materials continuous with outdoor materials. Lighting is integrated into the Douglas fir ceiling rafters, and the cadence and pattern rafters of the spacing results in an animated ceiling reminiscent of the tree canopy.

One feels as if they are part of the outside, sheltered between “pavilions” under one roof. The entrance procession leads guests passed light wells broken up by two-storey forms that restrain the interior corridor from the exterior window, allowing sky views from the lower level. These forms serve programmatic function while physically bringing the materiality of the exterior inside and spatially linking the differing grades on either side of the building. These objects march beyond the threshold of the front door revealing a two-storey wood cube at its conclusion. Entering the insular wood cube provides a warm nook which turns inward from the mostly open floor plan. The route down the stairs between the gateway created by these formal objects will complete the journey towards the lake.

A screened porch is located strategically behind the living room fireplace as opposed to obstructing views from the great room, and commands views to the south and west of the lake.