Homes

From the laneway, the Rideau River House is characterized by long sweeping horizontal lines. Bands of windows, sweeping roofs, and the generous porch that wrap around the house. Even the horizontal wood siding and the natural stone walls seem to reach out into the surrounding landscape, making the house feel at home on the flat and grassy bank of the Rideau River. The expansive roofs are supported by massive stone chimneys. Sheltered by stone fireplaces, the interior spreads into the surrounding landscape, looking out over the river. Large sliding glass doors provide uninterrupted views, with the indoor living space spilling out onto the stone terraces. 

The living spaces of the house are woven together along a hallway axis, tucked behind the stone chimneys. While the hallway feels secluded from the expanse of the rivers edge, an infinity window at the north end of the hall provides an intimate look to the surrounding woodlands, ensuring that even in moments of seclusion, every portion of the house feels deeply tied to the surrounding landscape. This connection reaches its most dramatic at the indoor pool. While the pool is fully enclosed and heated year-round, expansive glazing and the generous conservatory roof make it feel as though one is swimming outside. The river’s end of the pool has an infinity edge so that when the patio doors are open, the horizon of the pool blurs into the shimmering water of the river beyond, giving the sense that one is swimming in the river. The house has become as integral a part of the landscape, as the landscape is to ever part of the house. 

The Rideau River House utilizes state-of-the-art mechanical systems to eliminate any scent of chorine in the house and to control humidity fluctuations throughout the house that can often be caused by indoor pools. An engineered mass-timber structure was used to achieve the long spans of the indoor pool room. The use of mass-timber ensured a column-free space that is open and feels connected to the wooded landscape, while also providing a natural feeling of warmth to the swim area, even on the coldest of winter days when the Rideau River outside is frozen over. The design of the house includes a small residential elevator to ensure that the clients will be able to use and enjoy their home on the river for many years to come.

The driveway down to the house winds through a stand of towering century pines that soften the sound of the distant thundering waters. Through the pines, a tent-like roof appears, hovering above the forest floor, at the edge of the embankment.  A simple wooden bridge leads from the forest edge, under the shelter of the tent-like roof. From the understated entry, the house expands into a spacious double-height living space with large windows giving an intimate connection to the river. The house feels like a series of terraced decks under a single sweeping tent, supported by a framework of timber bents. The glass and timber frame evokes a bold but delicate transparency – a tent-like screen – welcoming the rising sun and an expansive river view.

The sense of shelter that the house provides is articulated through contrasts, both architecturally and technologically. The sheltering roof structure forms a super-insulated, protective metal skin folding over the timber frame. In contrast, the high-performance windows cast light and views out into the sheltering pine forest. Lightweight concrete floors on every level, heated with embedded hydronic piping, provide warmth and comfort.

As the natural landscape would instruct, the Wedge House, in both plan and section, engages and directs those who move within its space.

Completed in 2017, Arrowwood Cottage rises from a blanket of copper leaves, appearing both contemporary and timeless. With dry-stack stone walls founded on the bedrock of the Canadian Shield, it emerges from the forest floor against a gentle knoll. The two-bedroom cottage features a soaring timber clerestory and a towering Rumford fireplace, all wrapped in aged pine barnwood. 

The primary living space is accessible from atop the knoll, while the lower level conceals a garage and workspace accessed from the base. Respecting the 100-foot setbacks from both shorelines of the narrow peninsula, the cottage nestles into a sliver of forest, offering two commanding views of the lake. 

Morning rays penetrate past tree trunks into the east-side porch, master bedroom, and kitchen. As the sun rises, more light cascades through the clerestory’s kaleidoscope of timber and glass. At day’s end, the sun sets beyond the lake’s western shore, giving way to the hearth's outpour of firelight.

The sliding patio doors and windows are crafted and clad in copper-coloured aluminum. The colour and cladding of the windows creates a harmonious finish, resonating with the blanket of copper leaves surrounding Arrowwood Cottage.

The Burlington House builds on the foundations of a pre-existing home from the 1960s to create a pathway across the site that guides you from the front through the winding heart of the home, and slowly reveals sweeping vistas of Burlington Bay. The monumental custom douglas fir door acts as a portal passing into a light-filled but secluded front lobby. A challenging series of changes in floor height from the pre-existing house were re-imagined into staircase that evokes memories of a meandering pathway over a sand dune, catching glimpses of the shimmering bay along the path. At the crest of the stairs, the lakefront opens up through a prismatic glass living space.

Light and glimpses of the forest open up all around through window openings framing the study, the family dining room, and a living room that gathers in around a fireplace which is suspended from the soaring ceiling. The glimpse past the fireplace to the surrounding white pines through the infinity window, creates a “campfire” effect The family bedrooms are sheltered up above the main living space, with the primary bedroom being at the pinnacle of the house as a kind of lighthouse platform, overlooking the harbour. The living space spills out beyond the floor-to-ceiling windows, onto the pool patio.