KBN
Lac-Megantic—Quebec, CA
Nestled in between the picturesque landscape of Lac-Megantic, Quebec, is a quaint guesthouse that acts as an extension to the family’s main dwellings. 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 clearly broken off from the lake.
The 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 overtime begin to blend into the natural landscape, blurring the lines between nature and architecture. The roof terrace above the guest house acts as a welcomed extension from the main dwelling to the lake creating a seamless transition from one home to the other.
The roof has been designed to be a third of the total height of the guesthouse. It acts as a floating terrace to the family’s main dwelling which hovers above the lake and the majestic views of the landscape. Eventually, over time the roof terrace will be completely engulfed with plants and will seamlessly blend into the natural landscape. The seasonal changes will create an external green envelope that is constantly in flux.
The Garden House—Chandigarh, IN
The Garden House is designed as a series of small outdoor spaces that interlace the interiors of the house. Generating a more intricate series of internal and external spaces.
The house becomes an elaborate play between the walls that are constantly folding between public and private. The design focuses on using screens of different opacities to help curate the various degrees of privacy for the different spaces. The house is constantly unfolding itself creating a labyrinth between the inhabited rooms and nature.
Houses are mainly thought to be far too heterogeneous to constitute a singular type because of the diversity of societies, cultures and geographies. There is never a clear-cut boundary of what is public and what is private in a house.
The exterior form of a house inevitably remains the same but the interior becomes a series of heterogeneous forms. The interiors are made up of reversible walls and its surface is like a membrane that constantly transitions between the interior of the house to the exterior landscape.
When we explode one of these houses a multitude of devices that are specific to the owner comes to light. The house is used as a popular stage: the terrace, courtyard, window, gateway, staircase, and roof are at the same time a stage and a personal sanctuary. This leads to folding between different conditions: inside/outside, lit/dark, private/public, hidden/revealed.