remote<\/a>. \u201cThere was very little landscape intervention in order to construct this house,\u201d explains Oyama. \u201cSo, to have this project touch down rather delicately and create these connections, both to elements really far away, like kind of mountains and the states, as well as to the closest tree that you end up seeing just outside the window, was super important.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\nAt 260 square metres, Waterhouse is formidable. Cloaked in cedar-wood shingles, the curving forms are both familiar and unexpected. Shingled homes are actually a local vernacular of this region of Quebec \u2014 yet Oyama and Mana\u00e7as have reimagined this form in a striking new fashion.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne thing we wanted to balance was really playing with form in a minimalist and contemporary way. Some of these forms are not typical vernacular forms for a house so we balanced that with a material that is familiar and recognizable \u2014 and played with that duality. So, it\u2019s not a completely unfamiliar sort of object, in a way,\u201d says Mana\u00e7as.<\/p>\n
Plus, with wood, there\u2019s the additional dialogue between the wooden structure and the surrounding trees. In this case, the duo left the shingles unfinished to allow natural greying and encourage blending into the surroundings. And from a practical standpoint, wooden shingles are also handy for curves.<\/p>\n
When designing the home\u2019s unique footprint, programming was another key consideration. The challenge was to create a space that can accommodate a single occupant who likes to host, while still maintaining its liveability. The team ultimately settled on three seemingly separate volumes: the Tower, the Atelier and the Great Room. In the Tower, three storeys of bedrooms and adjoining bathrooms offer sleeping solutions, with a sunken basement office and a footbridge connecting to the Great Room\u2019s roof terrace. The Great Room is the central living space for the occupant featuring a bedroom suite, living areas and more \u2014 all south-facing for maximum sun. The Atelier functions as a workshop and parking garage with a high, pyramidal ceiling. Together, these three volumes form a village \u2014 with an internal oak-clad courtyard, natural circulation and fluid connections between buildings and a green roof covering it all.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Inside, smooth wood walls extend the cedar cladding indoors. Minimal wood furnishings \u2014 plus an inset fireplace, firewood cubby and piles of aesthetically placed\u00a0 books \u2014 compliment the striking foliage visible through floor to ceiling windows. In the kitchen, oxford-blue wood counters and cabinetry add visual intrigue. The kitchen island features two curves: one provides a functional nook to drop bags and allow for circulation; the second nods to a bigger picture.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe more important curve relates to the house\u2019s very clear organization,\u201d explains Mana\u00e7as. \u201cThere are the three volumes, and then there\u2019s this sort of interstitial space that connects them that acts as this open, programmed hallway and it\u2019s really clear; the wood is on the foyer side, and then all the rooms pull out of that. So, the kitchen island was this opportunity to almost contaminate this perfect separation. So that\u2019s why the counter is curved and sort of rounded at the end to spill out of the kitchen into the main area. Conceptually, you have this moment where the kitchen is spilling out and teasing a bit the space behind.\u201d<\/p>\n
Decades-old friends, but relatively new to working together, Oyama and Mana\u00e7as connected during COVID to start their professional relationship. Now, their iterative process is just as important as the final design. In the case of Waterhouse, the team went through multiple digital and physical models until they ended up with their final forms.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cParallel to the design of the project, Julia and I were also designing our approach to design,\u201d notes Oyama. \u201cWe didn\u2019t want to try to make an architectural form work for this particular project. So, in that sense, we started with these programmatic decisions, and then the project ended up taking on a life of its own.\u201d<\/p>\n
Now, as December creeps along, Waterhouse\u2019s expansive windows will soon be filling up with snow and the life of this built form will be continuing with the seasons. But new visitors continue to wander in \u2014 from deer to chickadees to bears \u2014 and this charmingly idiosyncratic home feels like a safe spot to hibernate for the winter.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Spotlight from Quebec: A hideaway in Sutton emerges like a shingled fairy tale from the lush landscape Sometimes,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":332598,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[49,48,61],"class_list":["post-332597","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-technology","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/332597","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=332597"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/332597\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/332598"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=332597"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=332597"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=332597"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}