A VISIT TO Canadian architect Ian McDonald’s Go Home Bay Cottagebegins with a boat trip of 16 nautical miles. The cottage stands on an island in a bay on the Canadian side of Lake Huron, one of North America’s Great Lakes. All the construction materials had to be transported to the site by barge. The house sits on protruding concrete plinths that are placed on a rocky mound on the plot, which is otherwise dominated by tall pine trees. And pine is also the dominant construction material
The interior is characterised by its exposed roof trusses and horizontal beams with a raw sawn finish. The façade comprises glass and horizontal cladding in Canadian Western red cedar. The grass roof helps to cool down the interior on hot summer’s days.
“Oversized buildings are becoming increasingly common around here, dominating the context and degrading the sense of nature. This cottage is intended to show that there is a positive alternative,” explains Ian McDonald.«
w| ima.ca
