We have followed the dynamic architecture of Brigitte Shim and Howard Sutcliffe of Toronto-based Shim-Sutcliffe ever since we first profiled the studio back in 2007. Several years, publications and a wealth of strong projects later, and the illustrious Canadian architects have been back on our radar with their sensitive, detail-orientated and contextual work for PW House, on the Canadian Shield. The generous family home was featured in our May 2020 print issue, and then nominated as Best Private House in the Wallpaper* Design Awards 2020.
This particular house is key element in a larger project for the architects. Shim and Sutcliffe started working on the masterplan of a five-acre plot on Point William, Lake Muskoka, in 1997. The home, the largest in the compound, is the newest part in a scheme that serves as an extended family’s weekend retreat. It is exactly this long-term, slowly-but-steadily developed and multi-faceted project that the architects’ latest architecture book, The Architecture of Point William, explores.
Spread from the book
The book, newly launched by ORO Editions, showcases Shim-Sutcliffe's masterful work on site, bridging existing structures, landscape and new architecture into a well-balanced, sensitive whole. It also tells the story of the reimagining of this beautiful, natural site on the Canadian Shield, which took place over two decades.
The publication includes an introduction by architect, critic and historian Kenneth Frampton; a captivating interview with the architects by writer Michael Webb, who has followed the project over the years; and expert photography by Ed Burtynsky, James Dow and Scott Norsworthy.
Taking the reader through key structures that are part of the scheme – a mostly residential composition, set upon a rocky base overlooking the surrounding forest and water – the book also offers a wealth of sketches, drawings and other insights. It creates not just a valuable source for architectural information and inspiration, but also the perfect excuse to daydream and mentally travel, in these movement-restrictive times.
INFORMATION
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A refreshed Victorian home in London is soft, elegant and primed for hostingSobremesa house by architects Studio McW shows off its renovation and extension, designed for entertaining
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Nordic Knots and Eagle + Hodges’ new rug collection is inspired by the English gardenThe Scandinavian rug company and the British property development duo have collaborated to create a collection that reinterprets the English garden in a way that doesn’t rely on delicate florals
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Studio Urquiola’s immersive Kvadrat textile forest is inspired by the Nordic landscapeDuring Chart 2025, Studio Urquiola and Danish designers Tableau team up to present a textile installation showcasing Kvadrat’s nature-inspired new collection
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La Maison de la Baie de l’Ours melds modernism into the shores of a Québécois lakeACDF Architecture’s grand family retreat in Quebec offers a series of flowing living spaces and private bedrooms beneath a monumental wooden roof
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Peel back maple branches to reveal this cosy midcentury Vancouver gemOsler House, a midcentury Vancouver home, has been refreshed by Scott & Scott Architects, who wanted to pay tribute to the building's 20th-century modernist roots
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A spectacular waterside house in Canada results from a radical overhaulSplyce Design’s Shoreline House occupies an idyllic site in British Columbia. Refurbished and updated, the structure has been transformed into a waterside retreat
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A new photo book explores the symbolic beauty of the Japanese garden‘Modern Japanese Gardens’ from Thames & Hudson traces the 20th-century evolution of these serene spaces, where every element has a purpose
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Hilborn House, one of Arthur Erickson’s few residential projects, is now on the marketThe home, first sketched on an envelope at Montreal Airport, feels like a museum of modernist shapes, natural materials and indoor-outdoor living
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This Canadian house is a precise domestic composition perched on the Nova Scotian coastBishop McDowell completed a new Canadian house overlooking the Atlantic, using minimal details and traditional forms to create a refined family home
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In Canada, The Nest is a three-dimensional puzzle redefining remote livingOn a wooded site on the country’s West Coast, this prefabricated retreat designed by Daria Sheina Studio is a nurturing space for low-impact living
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Discover Canadian modernist Daniel Evan White’s pitch-perfect homesCanadian architect Daniel Evan White (1933-2012) had a gift for using the landscape to create extraordinary homes; revisit his story in an article from the Wallpaper* archives (first published in 2011)
