Carved deep in the woods of Antigonish County,  this house re-sets the balance between amenity for its own sake and true functionality; between simple floor-spaces and considered places. It undertakes this re-balancing within tight budget constraints.

 

The design is organized in six ascending split-levels around a focal stair. Only 1,100 ft2 over six levels, it includes flowing double-height spaces, and modulated degrees of privacy and connectivity.  The stair becomes the heart of the design, offering a play of screening and reflectance which changes with light conditions.  

 

The Dovecote makes an argument that the path to more impactful and sustainable residential design is through finding ways to reverse ever-expanding normative spatial programs, to return to an understanding of what spaces are useful, what spaces are necessary, and what spaces are cherished, and to build a design around these alone.

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Photographs: Julian Parkinson