Smith House in Nova Scotia by MacKay-Lyons Sweetapple

View of Smith House during the day which is made up of three Corten steel and stone pavilion structures. There are other houses nearby along with bodies of water and brown grassy land

Smith House consists of three pavilion structures sat in a two-acre site in Canada’s Nova Scotia. Photography: Doublespace

(Image credit: Doublespace)

Not far from the water, among the green nature of Nova Scotia, sits a little cluster of Corten steel gabled roofs. Composed like a minimalist village, or a rural farming complex, made of stark lines and simple materials, this is the work of Canadian architecture practice MacKay-Lyons Sweetapple; and it is in fact, a private vacation home.

This family retreat – Smith House – sits right on the edge of Shobac – Brian MacKay-Lyons' own farm compound on the Atlantic coast, a project the architect has been developing and growing over the course of years. This new house follows a similar approach, comprising three volumes, which feature a simple, almost archetypal house outline.

The cluster is situated within a two-acre plot – a spot historically hosting an old fishing village. The architects' design draws on this history, blending the land and the new design into an arrangement of small buildings, courtyards and paths.

Exterior view of an illuminated cabin by MacKay-Lyons Sweetapple Architects on Bigwin Island in the evening. The cabin features floor-to-ceiling windows, a pitched roof and it is surrounded by greenery

MacKay-Lyons Sweetapple-designed cabins help revitalise Canada’s Bigwin Island

The structures' shapes echo the region's vernacular buildings, yet they are made entirely out of modern materials and contemporary technology and fittings. A stone plinth made of local granite grounds the complex and links it intrinsically to its surrounds.

Alternative exterior view of Smith House during the day which is made up of three Corten steel and stone pavilion structures. The pavilions feature large windows and pitched roofs. There are trees and brown grassy land nearby

Inside, the ‘pavilions' hold different uses. One contains the master bedroom, with its walk-in wardrobe and en-suite bathroom, the second houses a small studio space, and the third (the largest) was designed with the social aspect in mind, including living room, kitchen and a generous dinning area.

‘At a time when so much of our world is in flux, this is a project that is about timeless archetypes, rather than novelty or fashion,' say the architects. ‘It is less about itself than it is about the landscape cultivated around it'.

Wide exterior view of Smith House during the day which is made up of three Corten steel and stone pavilion structures. There are other houses nearby along with a body of water and snow covered, brown grassy land and trees

Alternative exterior view of Smith House during the day which is made up of three Corten steel and stone pavilion structures. There is a body of water, grassy land and trees nearby

Close up exterior view of a Corten steel pavilion structure at Smith House under a blue, cloudy sky. The pavilion is surrounded by grass and stone flooring and there is brown grassy land and trees nearby

Close up view of the stone steps and Corten steel and stone exterior at Smith House. There is a wooden chair on the lower level and two wooden chairs on the upper level

Interior view of the dining and living area at Smith House featuring a light coloured dining table with an irregular split design, brown chairs and sofas, floor lamps, large windows, stone and wood panelled walls and a black framework

Interior view of the living area at Smith House featuring wood panelled walls, a black framework, windows, brown sofas, a rug, a large stone fire place with a storage area for chopped wood and a wooden sculpture of a man

Interior view of the dining room at Smith House featuring stone walls and floors, a wood covered ceiling, a long wooden light suspended from the ceiling and an irregular shaped wooden table with a dark coloured frame and chairs. There is a brown platter on the table with cheese and bread

Exterior view of the Corten steel and stone pavilion structures at Smith House under a clear blue sky. There is a swimming pool outside surrounded by a snow covered area and there is brown grassy land and trees nearby

Interior view of a bedroom at Smith House featuring white walls, wood flooring, a white ceiling fan, framed wall art, a black padded swivel chair, a wooden storage unit under the windows with various items on top and a bed with blue pillows, linen and a grey throw with white stripes

Interior view of a space at Smith House featuring white walls with stone and wood sections, a skylight, wood flooring, a wall mirror, spotlights and a white storage unit. There is a partial view of a bedroom

INFORMATION

mlsarchitects.ca

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).

A Nova Scotia holiday home by MacKay-Lyons Sweetapple draws on its context

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