Majestically placed on its wooden perch in the heart of the Eastern Townships, this country house is destined to both dominate and blend in with the decor. This duality is intermittently manifested through its vast windows that make us experience the mountain while inside, and also through its well-defined lines that tear through the sky; all this overlooks the Bromont Valley.
The challenge for this project consisted of conforming with the occupants’ wishes while making life easier for skiers in a manner that was comfortable, modern, creative and practical. With direct access to the ski trails, it offers areas such as a mudroom for sports equipment, a festive family room and a large floating terrace perched high on pillars, a privileged observation post overlooking active skiers.
While the ground floor is a sleeping cocoon with a series of bedrooms, the first floor opens onto the steep views where sunshine fills the internal volumes from all sides. With large windows overlooking the ski slopes, the high-ceilinged living room captures light from sunrise to sundown.
The kitchen/dining room area extends outwards, on one side to a roof garden planted with long grass, herbs and spices, and on the other side to a vast wooden terrace. Slightly set back is the primary bedroom, which juts out from the main body of the residence, overhanging into the adjacent wooded area.
As soon as we enter the living room, the dizzying height of the ceiling projects us into the impressive natural surroundings. The adjacent woodland extends all the way to the ceiling, thanks to the high windows. The fireplace, as flamboyant from the inside as from the outside, brings a modern, warm and soothing feeling.
The attention to detail can also be seen in the staircase, which is divided into two mirror parts separated by a glass panel. The American walnut for the steps was carefully chosen to create a delicate chessboard motif.
From the outside, the flat roof limits the total height of the residence, highlighting the landscape while clearing the view to the mountaintop.
The exterior finish of white cedar shingles and burnt wood cladding defines and articulates the volumes and varying heights, while harmoniously emphasizing the striking architecture.
Its final signature is its corten steel chimney, creating a vast vertical movement anchored in the surrounding terrain and reaching for the sky, in continuity with the external staircase to the deck.
The landscaping has been deliberately left bare to highlight the magnificent terrain and the striking house that sits on it.
Datasheet
Project: Powder snow
Location: Bromont, Quebec
Architecture: Luc Plante, architecture + design inc
Engineer: EXP Granby
Contractor: Construction des sommets
Project start date: November 2011
Project end date: August 2012
Photographer: Jean-Guy Lambert
Press distribution: V2com
About Luc Plante architecture + design
Our work is a combination of dialogue, listening, elegance, possibilities, accuracy, and imagination.
Since 2002, we have been creating living and working spaces in sync with our clients’ daily needs. A building exists not only to shelter us from the elements: it must also be welcoming to its owners, its hosts and, in many cases, its workers.
Our high-level expertise allows us to maximize the architectural potential of each project and to promote its harmonious integration into the environment. Each mandate is a new opportunity for our team to look for the best solutions and to innovate. We focus on sustainable development and the use of quality materials.
In addition to numerous residential, commercial and industrial projects, Luc Plante, designer, in partnership with Charles Godbout of Topo design, offers a complete range of corporate, urban and residential furniture, as well as an impressive quantity of industrial design objects.
