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It’s no secret that vodka is a crowded space in the alcohol industry, often with differentiation between brands seeming to begin and end with the label. So when Vancouver native Gordon Glanz set out to develop a…

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A year after establishing their architectural practice, Canadian architects David and Susan Scott have created a timber-lined studio for themselves in a converted butcher and grocery shop in Vancouver (+ movie).

The husband-and-wife team co-founded Scott & Scott Architects at the start of 2013 but until now have been without a dedicated studio, so they set about creating one in the former shop premises below their home – a building dating back to 1911.

The architects stripped back the interior of the 70-square-metre space to create a simple rectangular studio at the front, a workshop at the back and a wall of concealed storage in between.

Douglas fir planks were sourced from a local sawmill to line the walls, floor and ceiling of the main room. These were treated with a traditional beeswax, mixed with a solvent of Canadian Whiskey to produce a gleaming surface.

The former shopfront was fully glazed, helping to bring as much light as possible into the space, but also allowing neighbours to see what’s going on inside.

“The priorities were to maximise the use of natural light, enhance the connection to the neighbourhood, use regional materials which have a known providence and acknowledge the lumber-based building culture of the Pacific Northwest,” explained David Scott.

The couple enlisted the help of local carpenters to help them build the space themselves. Wooden cupboards were constructed from plywood and stained in black, creating a contrast with the lighter wood elsewhere.

The space is completed by glass pendant lights and a series of bespoke desks, which the architects designed and made with galvanised steel frames and hand-stitched leather surfaces.

Movie is by Odette Visual, with a score by Joel RL Phelps. Photography is by the architects.

Here’s a project description from Scott & Scott Studio:

Scott & Scott Studio

A year after the launch of their practice architects Susan and David Scott have completed the refurbishment of the historic commercial space in their 1911 East Vancouver residence. Once a butcher shop and a long running grocery store, the space has been stripped back to a simple volume lined with Douglas fir boards and completed with black stained fir plywood millwork.

Using familiar materials from their region, the architects built the space themselves with a couple of carpenters. The fir was supplied from a sawyer on Vancouver Island with whom they have worked for several years. Three fir logs were selected, milled and cut to suit the width and height of the space. The work was completed in a manner rooted in traditional methodology while utilising the availability of modern tooling. The unsalvageable south-facing storefront had been infilled by a previous owner and was restored to an area of glass consistent with the original size using a single high performance unit.

Informed by a desire to create work which is fundamental in its architecture and supportive of a variety of uses over time, the priorities were to maximise the use of natural light, enhance the connection to the neighbourhood, use regional materials which have a known providence, and acknowledge the lumber-based building culture of the Pacific Northwest.

The architects favour materials and approaches that wear in and appreciate over time, taking on warmth with maintenance. The interior fir boards are finished with a variant of a warm applied 19th century beeswax floor finish with the solvent replaced with Canadian Whiskey.

The tables (a first of their self-produced furniture designs) are hand-stitched finished leather tops on blackened galvanised steel bases.

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timber-lined studio in Vancouver appeared first on Dezeen.

American firm Bohlin Cywinski Jackson designed this wooden lodge as the holiday home for a family at the Kicking Horse Mountain ski resort in Canada (+ slideshow).

Kicking Horse Residence, which was named as one of the ten recipients of the American Institute of Architects‘ 2014 Housing Awards earlier this week, was designed by Bohlin Cywinski Jackson as a weekend retreat that can accommodate the family and their guests, but can also be left unoccupied for long periods of time.

“The clients desired a weekend gathering place for their active family of five that would allow for flexibility to accommodate larger groups of family and friends, and provide a direct connection to the outdoors for seasonal recreation,” said the architect.

A forest of aspen and spruce trees surrounds the site, so timber was chosen as the primary building material. But unlike the typical wooden lodges of the region, the house features an angular structure intended to reflect the clients’ Scandinavian heritage.

“The Kicking Horse Residence is a family retreat that uses evocative forms to embrace the natural world,” said the architect.

The three-storey house is made up of two wings, connected by a central staircase. The largest of the two is an asymmetric volume accommodating the main living and sleeping spaces, while its rectilinear partner contains a family room offering views of the mountain peaks.

The building nestles into the slope of the site, creating entrances on both the lower and middle levels. The first functions as the main access and the second is a landing providing access to nearby ski and bicycle trails.

Bedrooms are scattered throughout the house. Three sleeping spaces are located in the loft, while two master bedrooms sit at opposite ends of the middle storey, creating a cantilever at the front of the building.

The base of the house is surrounded by concrete and contains a garage, a mudroom and a play space for the children.

Here’s a project description from Bohlin Cywinski Jackson:

Kicking Horse Residence

The clients desired a weekend gathering place for their active family of five that would allow for flexibility to accommodate larger groups of family and friends and provide a direct connection to the outdoors for seasonal recreation. They requested careful arrangement of the program to maintain privacy on the narrow lot between two neighbouring residences, while focusing on the views and providing direct access to nearby ski and bike trails.

While Kicking Horse Mountain resort is a relatively new ski destination, the majority of the custom homes in the area still take the form of traditional timber structures. The clients appreciated the intimate scale and warmth of traditional mountain lodges but wished to explore the possibility of creating a Modernist cabin more rooted in their Scandinavian heritage that connected directly to the landscape. The sloping site is adjacent to a ski trail and surrounded by a forest of aspen and spruce trees. Located between two neighbouring residences, the careful arrangement of program maintains privacy through the thoughtful composition of windows, while focusing on the views and providing access to the nearby ski and bike trails.

The house is composed of two primary elements: a dense bar along the northern edge of the site containing the sleeping and bath spaces, and an open shell with living and dining spaces oriented toward the extraordinary mountain views. A central stair volume links these two forms, with the main entrance at the lower level and an upper landing for ski access on the west side.

The linear form of the sleeping spaces cantilevers over a board-formed concrete base containing the garage, mudroom, and playroom. A standing seam metal roof folds over the peak to become an articulated wall with operable vents, bringing light and air into the loft spaces. These lofts contain bunk beds that allow flexible sleeping arrangements for children or guests.

Anchored by a tall concrete fireplace, the geometric form containing the living and dining spaces floats above the forest floor, allowing natural drainage patterns to flow uninterrupted through the site. Plywood-clad walls and ceiling planes extend to the exterior, framing alpine views and sheltering an outdoor deck.

Given its function as a weekend retreat, the house was designed to perform for extended periods without occupancy. The design inherently reduces exposure to natural drainage patterns by limiting the building footprint, and we worked directly with the contractor to detail the below grade drainage system to perform most efficiently for the soils on site. Electrical, heating, and security systems are monitored and controlled remotely so the client is made immediately aware of any issues, and an emergency generator was supplied in case of power outage.

The evocative forms of the house are oriented to capture daylight and views to the stunning mountain peaks above, but also act to effectively shed snow from the massive storms that move through the area. The client chose a local general contractor, native to the Golden, BC area, with a long history of building in remote areas. They enjoy both the craft involved in building intricate wooden structures from locally sourced timbers and also heading outdoors after a day of hard work.

Wood is a primary natural resource in this region. The local Louisiana Pacific Mill is a lifeline for the town of Golden, and a project goal was to express the natural diversity of wood in the architecture.

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holiday home at a Canadian ski resort appeared first on Dezeen.

Canadian studio Naturehumaine inserted a glass floor and skylight to draw sunlight through the interior of this two-storey house in Montreal, and reintroduced wooden boards to make a feature of the staircase.

Naturehumaine renovated and extended the narrow house on 8th Avenue, Rosemount, for a family of four. An extra family room was added on the ground floor with a new master bedroom above, while the rear facade was replaced with a patterned surface of bright yellow and green panels.

The glass floor provides a visual connection between the ground-floor dining room and a hallway above. A skylight of the same size sits directly above – a feature that architect Stéphane Rasselet says the studio often adds to the centre of houses.

“In this case the clients needs didn’t allow us to give up the valuable floor area that would be lost with a double-height space, so we added the glass floor below the skylight,” he told Dezeen.

The architects retained original structural beams and boards, using them to create a wooden wall flanking the staircase. They also inserted a few into the ceiling void below the skylight.

“Back when this building was built, structural walls were built out of interlocking pieces of solid wood, similar to a log cabin, but with flat faces,” said Rasselet. “We like to expose these walls like you would expose an existing brick wall.

“We find our clients like the warmth of the wood, as well as exposing the history of their house, which contrasts with the new contemporary elements,” he added.

The existing interior was completely reorganised. The ground floor entrance leads in through a living room to the kitchen and dining area at the centre of the plan, while the new room at the rear opens out to the terrace and garden.

Upstairs, a pair of bedrooms overlook the street in front of the property, while the master bedroom occupies the rear behind the bathroom.

Walls of black bricks extend through the facade, forming both interior and exterior surfaces, while floors feature a mixture of white-painted wooden boards and dark slate tiles.

Photography by Adrien Williams.

Here’s a project description from Naturehumaine:

8th Ave.

This intervention transformed a residential two storey duplex in Rosemount into a single dwelling unit by completely reorganising the interior and constructing a 430 sqft extension in the rear.

The extension includes a master bedroom on the second floor and a family room that gives onto an intimate garden at ground level. Standing proud on a typical Montreal laneway, the extension acts as a beacon of novelty and dynamism. While little work was done to the front facade, this extension was designed in contrast, with bright colours, an angled form, and generous glazing.

Work on the interior centred on exposing and highlighting the beauty of existing wooden structural walls and beams and supporting them with a more subtle pallet of materials. Natural daylight is brought into the core with a large skylight and glass floor placed at the centre of the house.

Type: Single family house
Intervention: Interior re-organisation and extension
Location: 8th Ave. Montreal, Canada
Area: 1630 sqft

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a glass floor with a skylight overhead appeared first on Dezeen.

Canadian studios Dan Hanganu Architectes and Côté Leahy Cardas Architectes have revamped the tent-like structure of a church in Quebec to create a modern library featuring coloured glazing, spiral staircases and lofty ceilings.

Completed in 1964 by Canadian architect Jean-Marie Roy, the St. Denys-du-Plateau Church already boasted a dramatically pointed structure that appears to float just above the ground. Dan Hanganu Architectes and Côté Leahy Cardas Architectes left this structure intact but added a pair of glazed blocks, one at either end.

Renamed as the Monique-Corriveau Library, in memory of a local author, the building now houses a public library and local community centre spread across two overground storeys and a large basement level.

Visitors enter the building through a grand atrium that reveals the full internal height of the roof. This is located within the former church nave, and leads through to shelving stacks, reading areas and study desks.

The largest of the two extensions sits over the footprint of the demolished former presbytery to accommodate staff offices and community event spaces.

“This separation of functions means that the community hall can be kept open outside library opening hours, while the spectacular and monumental volume of the nave is preserved,” said the designers.

The walls of this block feature an assortment of clear, silk-screened and coloured glass panels. The roof drops in height for a small section before meeting the old church, allowing the two volumes to appear visually separate.

The small front extension satisfies a requirement for an emergency escape staircase and is finished in the same tinted glass.

Photography is by Stéphane Groleau.

Here’s some information from the design team:

Monique-Corriveau Library, enlargement and conversion of the St-Denys-du-Plateau Church

The Monique-Corriveau Library, housed in the Saint-Denys-du-Plateau church, is an exception, and in a rather unusual way. It is a tribute to the career – exceptional for her time – of the Quebec writer whose name it honours. This mother of 10 children, to each of whom she dedicated a book, was the author of numerous children’s books and winner of several literary awards.

The St. Denys-du-Plateau Church, a remarkable creation of the late architect Jean-Marie Roy erected in 1964, was part of this renewal (second Vatican Consul), at once architectural and religious.

Converting and expanding such an eloquent example of modern Quebec architectural heritage is a very delicate operation which must be approached with respect and humility. Saint-Denys-du-Plateau Church deserves this special consideration due to its unusual, dynamic volume, which evokes a huge tent inflated by the wind and anchored to the ground with tensioners.

The nave houses the library’s public functions, with shelves and work and reading areas, while the addition contains the administration and community hall. This separation of functions means that the community hall can be kept open outside library opening hours, while the spectacular and monumental volume of the nave is preserved, since the architectural concept is to transform the space into a model of spatial appropriation as a reinterpretation of the interior.

To accentuate the fluidity of this volume, the solid soffit above the window has been replaced by glass panel which allows each beam to visually slip seamlessly to its exterior steel base, – a revelation of visual continuity.

The volume replacing the presbytery and community hall occupies the same footprint and was executed in clear, silk-screened and coloured glass panels. It is separated from the library by a void, marking the transition from old to new. At the front, extending the structure of the choir-screen and the canopy, a code-required emergency staircase is housed in a coloured glass enclosure signalling the new place, dominating a new parvis, reconfigured with street furniture, trees and other greenery. Building on transparency and reflection, the architects have made a strong statement with colour at the ends of the building, an allusion to the vibrant, bold colours of the 1960s, which contrast the whiteness and brilliance newly captured in the remarkable form of the original church.

Location: 1100 route de l’Église, Québec [Qc] G1V 3V9
Name of client: Ville de Québec, arrondissement Sainte-Foy – Sillery – Cap-Rouge
Architects: Dan Hanganu + Côté Leahy Cardas Architects
Architecte of the church Saint-Denys-du-Plateau (1964): Jean-Marie Roy
Architect in charge: Jacques Côté, Sébastien Laberge,
Design Team: Dan S. Hanganu, Gilles Prud’homme, Diana Cardas, Sébastien Laberge
Team: Pascal Gobeil, Martin Girard, Marie-Andrée Goyette (CLC), Olivier Grenier, Martine Walsh, Anne-Catherine Richard, Marc Despaties (DHA)

Structure: BPR
Mechanical/Electricity: BPR
Acoustician: Audiofax
Contractor: Pomerleau
Artists: Claudie Gagnon
Project size: 4400m2 (3 levels)
Cost: $14.7 millions
Date of completion: Occupation autumn 2013

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by Dan Hanganu and Côté Leahy Cardas appeared first on Dezeen.