A new cottage on Muskoka’s Six Mile Lake, designed by architectural design firm BLDG Workshop and built by RBA Projects, achieves a fine balance. It’s extraordinarily distinctive without being at all strange; it commands attention without being loud; and it subverts expectation without abandoning tradition.
For Nathan Buhler, architectural designer and founder/owner of BLDG Workshop, that result is the happy outcome of two ideal circumstances: clients who were all-in and willing to take chances; and a germinal idea that blossomed in execution.
“The cottage began with the idea of the dogtrot,” recalls Nathan. “That premise informed the design in a really meaningful way.” A dogtrot is a style of house, once popular in southern U.S. states, where a breezeway or open passage runs through the centre of the building to increase air flow and keep temperatures moderate indoors. “The tradition is to have different sleeping or living spaces around the outside, and then an open-air walking or dining area in the middle,” explains Nathan. “We incorporated that concept and wrapped the main floor with bifolding doors, so they can both be fully open or closed, depending on the conditions.”
From the starting point of creating an open-air main level emerged a design that fosters incredible fluidity and movement, lending itself well to social engagement and summer entertaining, something the owners love to do. It also created a striking visual impression when observed from outside. “With the windows being almost uninterrupted below, and then the more traditional shingle treatment on the upper floor, we wanted to create a feeling of an almost floating mass,” recalls Nathan.
In contrast, two windows on the upper-level wings of the cottage are trapezoids, contributing one of its most distinctive aesthetic features. “From inside, on the main level, the windows are dissolving the separation between indoors and out,” says Nathan, “but on the second level, it’s more about framing particular aspects of the view.”
With the bifolding doors open, the distinction between indoor and outdoor living spaces effectively dissolves.
While the cottage, built by the formidable RBA Projects, incorporates many traditional elements, it is undoubtedly an example of modern architecture, and a specifically Canadian version of it. “The premise behind modernism is to make the landscape the focus,” says Nathan. In this case, the cottage property is situated on a peninsula, so that three sides of the building overlook the lake. To prioritize that gift, Nathan and his team essentially created sightlines throughout the building so that no matter where you are, you still feel that you’re in touch with the water.
From the mezzanine,a window frames the view across the lake.
“In its infancy, modernism was thought of as almost a machine for living,” he explains, “and architects of the time took that aesthetic into it with really harsh, angular, almost stern design.” As time has passed, architectural designers have tried to approach the modernist aesthetic with much more humanity. As in any style across the spectrum, the appeal and functionality have more to do with massing and proportions than adopting the signature elements of a particular look. “The great thing underpinning any style is how it relates to the people who live there,” explains Nathan.
The Six Mile Lake cottage exemplifies what Nathan sees as an emerging Canadian take on modernist architecture, infusing the traditions of modernism with a craftsman sensibility that give it human scale and warmth. “We take our cues from all over the world,” he explains, “in the process of dialling into something that is distinctly Canadian.”
To make a space both useful and interesting requires innovation. Traditional elements such as wood-burning fireplaces, cathedral ceilings, and gabled rooflines acquire aesthetic currency by both delivering on expectations and upending them. In the Six Mile Lake cottage, for instance, corten steel in the soffits and indoor/outdoor fireplace chimney add a touch of industrial flavour where we might expect to find cedar and stone, respectively. “We like to play around with geometries and materials in relation to classic forms to create more levels of depth or texture,” Nathan explains. BLDG Workshop had worked with Barrie steel detailer CR Systems to incorporate steel in a few earlier projects and was thrilled when the client was enthusiastic about including it here.
Corten steel in the chimney captures the eye with texture and colour.
BLDG Workshop was grateful to have worked together with both CR Systems and builders RBA Projects on the Six Mile Lake cottage. “Without their professionalism and attention to detail, and the positive approach the men and women at both companies take to their work, this project could not have been either the success or the experience it was,” says Nathan.
Maibec wooden shingles, often used as an accent in select areas only, clads most of the cottage that isn’t windows, building contrast and contributing to the floating-mass effect. “The clients are from the East Coast, originally,” explains Nathan, “and this use of shingle was a nod to their younger years there.” A more international inspiration comes from the use of Yakisugi wood. Literally translated from Japanese as “burned cedar,” it acquires a dark hue and resilience against weathering and pests through an ancient charring process. The central staircase, dogtrot, and outdoor kitchen all incorporate it.
A window in the upper level of the boathouse opens up to provide the perfect spot for jumping in the lake.
In Nathan’s experience, the key to great architectural design comes down to great clients. “Every client is different, but this family had a real sense of whimsy, which was fun for all of us,” he recalls. “The boathouse is a place where you can feel that play out.” There, if you’re in the know, you might reach up and pull down a panel of the ceiling, climb into the second floor, open a window, and jump into the lake. “That feature was inspired by the clients’ fondness for the little nooks and crannies and magical places you find in homes in children’s storybooks,” Nathan says, smiling. “It’s amazing when architecture and design can help us connect like that to the children around us and the child within us.”