June 16, 2014
With summer's warm and beautiful weather finally making an appearance, many are heading up north to enjoy their cottages for the season. One of my favourite things about designing cottages for my clients is being able to create an environment that is completely different from their urban home. Clients often crave a country oasis that connects their cottage to the great outdoors – while their urban homes often serve as refuges from the hustle and bustle of the big city.
Keeping this concept in mind, I find that the most successful cottage designs are those that balance both natural and refined elements, in order to create a sense of permanence and history in a current and contemporary space. Little details make a space feel like it’s been there forever – which is something that is especially difficult to achieve in a newly built space.
We're working on building a cottage retreat for one of our clients. Take a look at some sketches and inspiration images for this project.
On the exterior, we utilized simple forms and a colour palette that complements the surrounding environment. (Casey Design/Planning Group Inc.)
Our design takes shape - the wraparound deck will be a wonderful feature in the warm summer months. (Casey Design / Planning Group Inc.)
External site studies often guide the overall direction and aesthetic of the cottage space to be designed. This process sketch analyzed the relationship between the structure and the surrounding environment to ensure the best combination of site position, orientation and integration into the landscape. (Casey Design / Planning Group Inc.)
We looked for inspiration from structures with clean, simple forms and natural materials. The combination of these two elements create a contemporary architectural structure that works harmoniously with the natural environment. (Nick Noyes Architecture)
For the interior, we wanted to design a space that felt open and airy. We were inspired by uniform colour palettes and exposed structural details that created a sense of harmony on the inside to focus views to the outdoors, as seen in this photo. (Robert Young Architects)