Then-And-Now: Cabin or cottage?

Designing a cottage or cabin in the woods by a lake that does the landscape justice is a task that has been approached from many different angles.

And when the property is on a hill with a significant slope and great view, why not take advantage of the changing elevation?

That is what the Montreal, Que.-based architectural firm Architecturama has done with its “Lake Jasper House” in Cherstsey, Que.

According to architect partner Sylvain Bilodeau, he and his partner and co-owner of the project house, Nicolas Mathieu-Tremblay, the design inspiration of incorporating modular bleachers as surfaces throughout the front of the building came from the theatre.

“The slope of the hill and direction of the lake lends the design towards having stairs going up. To keep expenses down we went with standard soft wood (for the bleacher construction).”

With its cube shape and advantageous ratio of envelope to usable volume, the structure promotes energy efficiency and economical use of materials. “It’s an efficient volume,” says Bilodeau. “The footprint is around 850 ft2 but the gross floor area is 1,900 ft2 with all the area of the rooms and the individual bleachers.” Kitchen, bathroom, small bedroom and a bunk room is located at the back. The property is 16 x 250 m.

“We’ve had 12 people sleep over, but more could stay if they were comfortable on the bleachers.” A fireplace, movie projector and feather cushions help people enjoy the space. The only metal framing is the curtain wall with all of the glass, everything else is all wood. The bleacher structure is black painted wood 2 x 4s, the posts are 2 x 4s, and they are glued and screwed together with ½ in. wooden plates.

“The outside bleachers are made with treated wood — but are also protected by the overhanging roof so it’s going to last some time,” says Bilodeau. The structure can be easily repaired, stained or replaced, or reconfigured into something else. “They can be turned into a table, or side table, or whatever. The bleachers are open to interpretation — the deck is one big piece of furniture.

“Occasionally when someone wants a wider, flat surface, we can just accumulate elements so we can just add modular blocks to level up two surfaces. The usage is blurred — it can be a floor, seat or a table.”

Bilodeau says that visitors don’t mind that the bleacher surfaces are a soft, construction wood. “Of course we have to keep bare foot or socks, but that’s OK because that’s part of the idea of the cottage experience.