Guest House Lac-Megantic
Size: 675 SFT
Year: 2018 In Progress
Location: Lac-Megantic, Quebec, Canada
The design intent for this project is to fully utilize the seasonal changes of the site by integrating nature into the built environment. The family’s main dwelling sits at the highest point of the site and is broken off from the lake.
The proposed guesthouse on the other hand emerges from the hard landscape, slowly forming a transition between nature and architecture. The external façade has been designed to accommodate a green wall, so that the building will over time begin to synthesize into the landscape, blurring the hard threshold between nature and architecture. The roof shell is constructed using an interconnected self-supporting structure of galvanized black metal grid, peppered with plants that will encourage the growth of the natural flora found on the site. Eventually, over time the roof structure will be completely engulfed with plants and accordingly blend with the landscape. The seasonal changes will create an external organic envelope that is constantly changing. The entry opens into the living room, the heart of the house. Clean and simple lines to define the interior spaces. Full height sliding windows grant a seamless connection with the landscape.
A central reinforced concrete core houses all the services such as the kitchen, dining room and bathroom. The core on top of responding to its main structural purpose creates a physical separation between the living space and the bedroom. The bedroom is physically lowered to generate a transition from the upper level, a roof light
brings as much as natural light in.
The material palette sticks to the classics, blackened timber, light concrete, black metal and glass to create a neutral backdrop to the breathtaking landscape.