Isotope

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 building was constructed in the 1970’s for a young family of skiers and underwent several additions and alterations over the years.

By 2019, the building needed upgrades and modernization. Because the building is on a condominium where the building is privately owned but the land is a condominium, the footprint could not be changed.

The original idea was to partially reconstruct and renovate the existing structure, but the team determined that a complete reconstruction from the foundation up was required. The design solution opened up the spaces and included larger windows and a different roof configuration to allow for more spacious sleeping areas. The basement was redesigned to house a ski storage/mudroom along with boot warmers and coat hooks to accommodate all of the ski equipment. A new games room and bedrooms were also added in the basement with walkouts. The main level included was reconfigured to house a well-defined dining area and great room.

This project involved the replacement of a small unwinterized cabin on Bass Lake, one of the smaller lakes in Muskoka.

The project had a modest program on 1,600 square feet and three bedrooms with a large open concept living, dining and kitchen area. Cost was top of mind for the owners, so an efficient floor plan with minimal circulation was required. A large deck overlooks the lake.

Due to the site sloping toward the lake, the basement was able to be configured with a walkout patio, allowing more space downstairs for a recreation area, laundry, mechanical and an extra bedroom. The building is insulated to modern standards with an efficient heating system for low operating costs. Exterior materials include pre-stained wood siding, asphalt roof and cedar soffits.

Situated on a bay on Lake Rosseau in Muskoka, this cottage is located at the foot of a cliff, right at the water’s edge.

The location is grandfathered in as it is a replacement of an existing one-storey cottage sharing the original footprint. This accounts for the project’s direct proximity to the water.

The limited footprint necessitated a two-storey design. The second storey is perched above the open plan below, and with the backdrop of the cliff behind it, the second storey appears nested in the rugged landscape.

The central two-storey living space is flanked on the ground floor by the kitchen/dining area and the den and screened porch on the other. At the second level bedrooms are situated on either side of the two-storey space and a bridge connecting both sides. The clerestorey window spans the building and faces the cliff allowing views back and ample north light.

The two-storey window wall faces the lake and frames spectacular views of Skeleton Bay.

This five-bedroom house faces west on a bay in the west end of Lake Muskoka. A small peninsula projects into the lake in front of the property and houses a small ornamental lighthouse.

The building follows the setback from the water creating a plan which hinges back at great room and maximizes lake views and natural daylighting. The great room is contiguous with the screened porch, which can be fully opened into the main great room through folding panel doors, creating one large open space. An outdoor kitchen is located outside the screened porch on a deck overlooking the lake, and new boathouse.

The master bedroom is located at the opposite end of the house from the other bedrooms and steps up three risers to accommodate the rising landscape and creating views to the lake.

The lower level has two bedrooms, a recreation area, and mechanical rooms, and is designed as a walkout to reinforce the feeling of being on a main floor and not a basement.

The house id situated on the site to work with the landscape, and existing vegetation to avoid removing as many trees and rocks as possible and can barely be seen from the water. The result is a building that is integrated with its surroundings and looks as though it has always been there.

This recreational home is sited in a development at the foot of the Alpine Ski Club in the Town of Blue Mountains.

The building is sited on a residential street facing the ski hills and is designed for Apres-ski entertaining with six bedrooms, open living spaces, a recreation room, a sauna, and a courtyard with a hot tub and firepit.

The challenge was to create a recreational feel in a building which is within a suburban style subdivision with styles ranging from neo-classical to modern. The goal was achieved by making the courtyard the centrepiece of the design. The layout of the house around a courtyard not only protects the hot tub and firepit from prevailing winds but provides a house that is more inward looking, versus a view outward to the residential street. The courtyard device also allows natural light to penetrate the living spaces, while enhancing the transparency between indoor and outdoor rooms. While the building is large, the massing from the street is of low scale in contrast to the adjacent two-storey houses. The portion of the house in front of the courtyard is one-storey, while the portion behind the courtyard is two- storey, which not only reduces the height at the front elevation but affords a view of the ski hill from the gallery on the second storey which also overlooks the living room.

Interior materials include hardwood floors, natural stone, rift sawn white oak, and douglas fir post and beam ceilings. Exterior materials are dark stained natural wood siding, metal standing seam roof, aluminum clad widows and natural stone.

Following the contours of the site, the plan encloses a courtyard on the entry side. From this viewpoint the entry side is relatively opaque, in order that the occupants may focus on the lake, and not the cars, the road, and the city they left behind.

The design is a metaphor of a series of cabins in the woods connected by a common roof with outdoor spaces in between. On arrival, one crosses a threshold and enters between two of the cabins into a large open public space which has a seamless connection to the outdoors, giving the viewer the sense that they are under a large indoor/outdoor pavilion. This pavilion houses the living, dining and kitchen areas. A secondary corridor at the rear accommodates a pantry room and a small work station, overlooking the courtyard. The clerestory windows above the main living space contribute to the outdoor ambience and when open will provide a natural ventilation system using the stack effect.

A corner bay creates a kind of inglenook along the fireplace wall to house either a games area or simply seating to allow the occupants to sit and gaze at the lake. Windows are floor to ceiling, wall to wall which provides the maximum daylight and minimum glare while maximizing views to the outdoors. Most areas of the house have daylight from multiple directions, again minimizing glare and avoiding the need for electric light in the daytime. Exterior soffits continue inside through the exterior glazing to create valances, further blurring the line between indoors and outdoors, and creating even daylighting.

A three-sided screened porch is located at the west end of the house off the kitchen and is connected to the lake through a deck. The three sides allow for a cross breeze off the lake, and its location at one end of the house allows for unobstructed views to the lake from the main living spaces.

The L-shaped floor plan not only wraps the courtyard, but also follows the site contours to integrate the house into the landscape. The east wing of the ‘L’ houses the bedrooms and allows each bedroom a view of the lake. The connecting corridor houses storage areas, a powder room and the laundry room with a view at the end of the hall. This walkway acts as a connection to the bedrooms but is designed as negative space—that is it almost feels like the bedrooms are cabins connected by an outdoor covered passageway. This also maximizes one’s connection to the outdoors while providing daylight and views to a space that might otherwise simply be considered a mundane corridor.

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.