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LIVING ROOM: A sphere of splinters creates a unique chandelier over mod Saarinen Tulip chairs. The swath of forest outside is called up in a rugged coffee table by Brent Comber. And the hearth’s allure is generously complemented by the deep Drop In couch by Bensen.
Marc Boutin’s Calgary-based architectural firm was charged with building a home that keeps family close while presenting the larger world on a platter.
Western Living Your clients purchased a swath of 72 acres of coniferous pines and natural grasslands. Was that an intimidating site to build on?
Marc Boutin You know, we looked at the area on Google Earth and discovered that the lake this house would be looking down toward- Lake Windermere-is on the east side of this incredible spine of mountains. We could see we were working with a microcosm of the entire Rocky Mountains. The landscape was really muscular and masculine. This is ranch land. So we knew that handling a person’s relationship with that vista was going to be paramount.
WL How did you want that natural drama to play out for people inside the house?
MB It starts with the approach to the house, right? You turn off a two-lane highway onto a gravel driveway that winds on for a kilometre. You weave around a knoll, dip into a ravine, take a bridge they had to build over a creek, and you’re just getting a sideways glimpse of the house-from there it just looks like a wood cube, like some Donald Judd sculpture. Then you arrive at the house’s rear, which is almost windowless. The house works hard to withhold information about the view, to build anticipation.
WL And the reveal?
MB Once you’re inside, there’s a 21-by-90-foot bank of windows.
WL Nice payoff.
MB The house itself is not unlike a camera with its viewfinder. It creates a frame for magnifying the landscape it’s facing.
WL Every room inside seems to pour into adjoining rooms and then out the windows. Even the toilet in the master bedroom is missing a door. How do you keep people feeling secure, held, in such expansiveness?
MB Well, the clients are a very tight, gregarious family, and the design reflects that. We created one large volume, celebrating the family’s closeness. Within that volume, there’s a smaller volume, where the bedrooms are. The master bedroom is delineated with a translucent glass, so there’s always a connection with the kids. The kids’ bedrooms are divided by transparent glass walls with wild grasses embedded in the glass, so (depending on lighting) you can see silhouettes within the rooms.
WL That kind of transparency makes sense with little kids…
MB Right; they were six and seven when we started the project.
WL What happens when they turn into teenagers?
MB The glass can always be changed, made more opaque by applying a film. But, yes, it’ll always be glass and not a wall.
WL So the family’s life is always going to be pretty communal, by design.
MB Yes. They’re very social, and they’re a young, working couple. They work together in town, so this place needed to be a sanctuary where they could rejoin as a family. The kitchen needed to be central. We gave it that bold orange. They were very clear, too, that they’d want friends over and that those friends were participants in their everyday lives so they wouldn’t want separate formal entertaining spaces.
WL The yard, if we can call it that, is informal, too.
MB You fall in love with a landscape, I guess, and then you’re not inclined to create an alternative, a "cultivated" garden. The existing landscape is a playground and they wanted a home that was simply situated in it. There’s no need to create an oasis.
WL Sounds like this family is married to the land.
MB They’d been living in the Invermere area for years, waiting for the right place to build, before they came to us. We spent four months in consultation, visited the site in summer and winter, and then there was a year of construction before the house was finished. I’d say these clients knew what they were doing. wl
Sources
Pages 38-39 Architect, Marc Boutin, MBAC, Calgary, 403-261-9050, the-mbac.ca.
LIVING ROOM: Bensen drop in couch, Inform Interiors, Vancouver, 604-682-3868, informinteriors.com; House Brand, Calgary, 403-229-4330, housebrand.ca; Kesay Furniture Studios, Winnipeg, 204-925-2226, kesay.com. Solo Merbau Jet Oil flooring, Floorworks, Toronto, 416-961-6891, floorworks.ca. Brent Comber Alder coffee table, Brent Comber, North Vancouver, 604-980-4467, brentcomber.com; Domain Fine Furnishings, Calgary, 403-301-2339, domainefurnishings.com. DINING AREA: Saarinen Tulip armchairs, Calgary, Kit Interiors, 403-508-2533, kitinterior.com. Dining table, Calgary, Kit Interiors, 403-508-2533, kitinterior.com. Driftwood ball chandelier, Trianon Interiors, Toronto, 416-363-9851, trianon-online.com.
Page 40 DINING ROOM: See page 38. KITCHEN: Scavolini cupboards, Dekla Kitchens, Toronto, 416-961-2929, dekla.ca. 3form sliding door glass, Grosvenor North America, Vancouver, 604-602-0566, grosvenorna.com; 3form, Calgary, 403-669-1111, 3-form.com; 3form, Winnipeg, 204-452-5334, 3-form.com. MASTER BEDROOM: De La Espada Atlantico walnut bed, Designhouse, Vancouver, 604-681-2800, designhouse.ca; Livingspace, Vancouver, 604-683-1116, livingspace.com; Domicile Interiors, Calgary, 403-262-9780, domicileinteriors.com. Light fixture, Inform Interiors, Vancouver, 604-682-3868, informinteriors.com.
Page 42 MASTER BATHROOM: Tech Lighting Tigris Recessed Round Mirror, 877-445-4486, lumens.com. Philippe Starck Duravit free standing tub, Cantu Bathrooms & Hardware Ltd., Vancouver, 604-688-1252; Victoria, 250-382-1252, cantubathrooms.com; Robinson Lighting and Bath Centre, Calgary, 403-245-8637; Edmonton, 780-453-5714, rlrbc.com; Wolseley Kitchen & Bath Classics, Regina, 306-565-2284, wolseleyinc.ca; B.A. Express, Saskatoon, 306-664-2389, barobinson.com; Robinson Bath Centre, Winnipeg, 204-784-0111, barobinson.com. STUDY: Cabinets, Ikea, Richmond, B.C., 866-320-4532; Calgary, 866-887-4532; Edmonton, 866-877-4532, ikea.ca. Poliform bookshelf, Inform Interiors, Vancouver, 604-682-3868, informinteriors.com.
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