Minimalist cabin in Canada designed by Nature Humaine to bring us closer to nature
![Minimalist cabin in Canada designed by Nature Humaine to bring us closer to nature](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/a7T3Pw2A3DuqJto5z2m5RP-415-80.jpg)
Montreal-based architecture practice Nature Humaine has designed a cabin for a rocky mountainside in the Eastern Townships that aims to bring a direct and timeless experience of nature to its inhabitants through its cantilevered form and minimalist interiors.
The architects were inspired by the address of the project, Crowhill road, and perched their cabin on a ledge, ‘observing the landscape’ like a crow. They also used black burned-wood exterior cladding ‘reminiscent of their jet black and glowing plumage,’ say the architects.
Anchored into the rocky cape with concrete foundations, one volume features a living spaces while the second has two bedrooms, with entry to each space in the middle. The orientation of the cantilever faces out into the landscape, with the view from inside enhanced by the overhanging roofs that also act to reduce solar gain during summer.
The entranceway to the cabin.
The architects – who have a series of minimal, highly-crafted residences and a timber-lined Aesop store under their belt – believe that architecture has the ability to carefully balance an ecosystem.
With this project, they chose to balance simplicity, economy and integrity within the design: ‘With deliberately modest dimensions, we tried to show that architecture, whatever its dimensions, may be oneiric, and control the scale so it might seem that this small chalet was simply been dropped there,’ say the architects.
While the cabins look like a couple of cubic crows just landed on their ledge, it was actually carefully crafted by Nature Humaine’s client, a dynamic design enthusiast and local to the area, who was both the client, general contractor, and builder too.
He requested a design that could be a model he could re-built elsewhere. It was their client’s minimalism that inspired the interiors that feature ceramic flooring with a concrete finish: ‘The idea was almost to make people forget the minimalist design, and instead put the emphasis on the surrounding landscape.
INFORMATION
For more information, visit the Nature Humaine website
Wallpaper* Newsletter + Free Download
For a free digital copy of August Wallpaper*, celebrating Creative America, sign up today to receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories
Harriet Thorpe is a writer, journalist and editor covering architecture, design and culture, with particular interest in sustainability, 20th-century architecture and community. After studying History of Art at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) and Journalism at City University in London, she developed her interest in architecture working at Wallpaper* magazine and today contributes to Wallpaper*, The World of Interiors and Icon magazine, amongst other titles. She is author of The Sustainable City (2022, Hoxton Mini Press), a book about sustainable architecture in London, and the Modern Cambridge Map (2023, Blue Crow Media), a map of 20th-century architecture in Cambridge, the city where she grew up.
-
Commune’s sustainable personal care products look ‘quite unlike anything else’
Commune’s Somerset-made products stand out in the sustainable skincare crowd. Madeleine Rothery speaks with the brand’s co-founders Kate Neal and Rémi Paringaux
By Madeleine Rothery Published
-
‘Hedonistic and avant-garde’: Rabanne’s Julian Dossena on the legacy of the chainmail 1969 bag
Paco Rabanne’s 1969 chainmail handbag encapsulates the late designer’s futuristic, space-age style. Current creative director Julien Dossena tells Wallpaper* about the bag’s particular pleasures
By Jack Moss Published
-
Postcard from Paris: Olympic fever takes over the streets
On the eve of the opening ceremony of Paris 2024, our correspondent shares her views from the streets of the capital about how the event is impacting the urban landscape.
By Minako Norimatsu Published
-
A dramatic new lakeside cabin in the Canadian wilderness rises above the trees
Kariouk Architects' lakeside cabin ‘m.o.r.e. CLT’ explores new material approaches while making a minimal impact on a precious landscape
By Jonathan Bell Published
-
Forest Retreat is a new low-energy family house in the forests of Ontario
Set beneath a vast roof, Forest Retreat is a rich mix of local materials, craftsmanship and space for an extended family to get together in the heart of nature
By Jonathan Bell Published
-
Join the West Coast Modern Week's Home Tour 2024 for modernist architecture and more
West Coast Modern Week 2024 comes with its annual home tour courtesy of the West Vancouver Art Museum, offering an extensive, immersive showcase of Canada's modernist architecture
By Hadani Ditmars Published
-
A modernist lakeside cottage in Ontario provides a perfect backdrop for family vacations
A lakeside cottage by Canadian studio Dubbeldam Architecture + Design has been shaped as a modest multigenerational retreat to accommodate the surrounding wilderness
By Jonathan Bell Published
-
The heat is on: mobile sauna heralds a new breed of experimental hot boxes
Emma O’Kelly explores the emerging world of mobile sauna design in Germany, Norway and the UK, where new design approaches are taking this ancient practice into the modern era
By Emma O'Kelly Published
-
Visit a cubic Canadian cabin in the woods: welcome to Rustic Grade
Maurice Martel has designed a contemporary cabin in the woods, Rustic Grade, to make the most of a sylvan plot to the north of Montreal
By Jonathan Bell Published
-
Whistling Wind is a remote Canadian cottage retreat to reconnect with nature
Whistling Wind house is an elegant escape on a remote Ontario island that offers up a contemporary reinterpretation of the local vernacular
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
A Whistler cabin offers a ‘transcendent experience’ to its occupants
Openspace Architecture’s Winterfell house is a Whistler cabin and luxurious contemporary ski retreat nestled within the forest
By Jonathan Bell Published