26-06-2017

A cottage in the forest by YH2

holiday houses,

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Cottages in forests, with their timeless charm, conjure up all sorts of images.



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A cottage in the forest by YH2 Cottages in forests, with their timeless charm, conjure up all sorts of images. La Colombière by Canadian studio YH2 encapsulates this magic by connecting with its natural context.


When the name of the project - dovecote in English - says it all. The intervention by YH2, the studio founded by Marie-Claude Hamelin and Loukas Yiacouvakis has turned a small cabin in the forest near the town of Sutton, in the south-west of Québec, into a full-on, very welcoming retreat.
The original structure was a tool shed for a lumberjack, then it was turned into a cabin and now the team from YH2 have redesigned this cottage in the forest using their trademark simple, pure formal language.
They didn't change the building's footprint to leave the surrounding forest as natural as possible, instead choosing to “grow upwards” - like trees. This design solution brings La Colombière very close to the tree-house category, which is the impression it gives on your approach. This is because you can only see the top part of the house and the gabled roof, all of which looks like a real dovecote, complete with pigeonhole. The forest connection is also manifested in the decision to keep the same local dark cedar exterior as the original construction.
A real contrast with the contemporary style of the interior. The walls are painted white and the light wooden staircase draws you up to explore the home's three floors, with lots of windows and cosy niches that frame and underscore the continuous connection with the real star of this extension - the forest.
The Québec Association of Architects awarded the project by the YH2 studio the “Prize of Excellence of Architecture” in 2015 for its poetry, lightness and attention to the context.

Christiane Bürklein

Design team: François Bélanger, bachelor in architecture
Marie-Claude Hamelin, architecte
Loukas Yiacouvakis, architecte
http://www.yh2architecture.com/
Construction team: François Bélanger, bachelor in architecture, Marie-Claude Hamelin, architect, Rémi St-Pierre, bachelor in architecture, Loukas Yiacouvakis, architect
Pictures credits: Francis Pelletier
Prize of Excellence of Architecture
Residential building category single-family type
Ordre des Architectes du Québec, 2015
Thanks to v2xom

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