La Sentinelle by NatureHumaine, Canada

La Sentinelle, designed by Canadian practice NatureHumaine, is sited on an empty plot of land in the Quebec Mountains

(Image credit: TBC)

Sloped roof shown from outside — Due to the constraints posed by the rocky terrain, the architects designed the family home atop a plateau

View of building through the trees — The result is a two-level, L-shaped house with a folded sloping roof evocative of a bird's wing. 'We see the house as a bird sitting at the edge of the cliff overlooking the lake, which is where its nickname "The Sentinel" comes from,' says the firm's David Dworkind

Outdoor staircase — An exterior staircase leads to the top level of the house, which contains the living spaces, the master bedroom and a guest room

Large windows showing seating area inside — In order to minimise costs, the architects ensured that the house could be built without any steel beams, instead opting for a standard wood frame construction. The exterior is clad in dark grey Goodfellow wood and the roof is covered in ribbed steel sheets with a bronzed zinc finish

Inside the kitchen/living area — The open plan living spaces lead out onto elevated wooden decking

Close up of dining area next to kitchen — Contrasting wood grains add pattern to the interior

Monochrome bathroom — One of the monochrome bathrooms

Dressing area with large wardrobes — Dark surfaces are off-set with stark white ceilings

Top of staircase looking down — With the clients – a surgeon and an engineer – requesting acoustic separation between the playroom and the master bedroom and guest room, the lower level was designated the 'kids' zone'

Wooden staircase leading up — The dark wood staircase

Ladder leading to top floor space — The kids' zone consists of the three boys' bedrooms and a games room that provides access to a football field next to the house

Exterior view of building — With its prime location in the idyllic residential development, generous spaces, plenty of daylight and private access to the nearby lake, it is safe to say that La Sentinelle fulfils its brief and beyond

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Ellie Stathaki is the Architecture & Environment Director at Wallpaper*. She trained as an architect at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in Greece and studied architectural history at the Bartlett in London. Now an established journalist, she has been a member of the Wallpaper* team since 2006, visiting buildings across the globe and interviewing leading architects such as Tadao Ando and Rem Koolhaas. Ellie has also taken part in judging panels, moderated events, curated shows and contributed in books, such as The Contemporary House (Thames & Hudson, 2018), Glenn Sestig Architecture Diary (2020) and House London (2022).