This project is situated in a wooded, sloped site, overlooking the Dogtooth Mountain Range across the Columbia River. The home is designed for two physicians from  Saskatchewan who share a love for skiing in the surrounding mountains.

The Kootenay cabin is an example of a typology that we call ‘xyz house’ that recurs in our body of work. Here the ‘x-axis’ is the living pavilion, the ‘y-axis’ is the lower sleeping pavilion, and the ‘z-axis’ is the vertical form of the hearth.

We designed the house as an ‘upside-down house’: living above and sleeping below. The bottom bar (sleep) cradles the top mass (live). The primary bedroom is ‘tucked’ behind the cedar shiplap service core at the hillside (north), cocooned in the trees, offering a serene and secluded retreat. It is a counterpoint to the great room on the opposite end of the house (south), providing an outlook of the landscape beyond. This great room is celebrated through the vaulted ceiling, a system of exposed structural steel trusses, generous views, and a central hearth.

In the plan, two pinwheeling ‘totemic bumps’ ground the great room: the hearth and the kitchen. Hidden behind the hearth is a stairway - a design gesture inspired by Howard House and a tribute to my long-time friend and mentor, Charles Moore. The hearth serves as a continuous totem, both ‘marking’ and ‘grounding’ the space, above and below. The operable glazing in the living room seamlessly connects the indoor space with the terrace, transforming them into one cohesive ‘room.’

We carefully designed the entry sequence with the clients. The ‘entry’ starts as you slowly drive up to the property, where the house partially reveals and conceals itself through the woods. Upon arrival, a galvanized steel bridge leads you toward the covered entry, or the building’s ‘underbelly,’ where you are welcomed by native plantings along the path, enhancing the sense of arrival.

Over time, we learned that material selection must respond accordingly, with nature and with humans. The balance of enclosure and outlook is achieved through the articulation of corrugated Cor-Ten ‘skin’, and the principal window ‘bites’. The rugged, industrial texture and uniformity of the exterior cladding provide a strong, protective shell for the home, while the large glazing elements offer a sense of prospect. Inside, the warm tones of cedar shiplap provide a welcoming contrast, or a sense of refuge

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