Ravi Handa Architect "mirrors the discovery" of woodland walks in Quebec house

Canadian studio Ravi Handa Architect has completed a cedar-clad house that fits into its wooded setting on the shores of a lake in Quebec.

Known as Maison du Lac Perdu, the 1,694-square-foot (157-square-metre) house was informed conceptually and physically by the four-acre site in Wentworth-Nord in the Laurentian Mountains.

Architect Ravi Handa, who is based in Montreal, took a phenomenological approach to site analysis, sleeping on the property, walking the land and observing hunting and animal trails, sun paths and elevation changes.

"Walking those trails as they looped through the woods, I was fascinated by how the landscape reveals itself in fragments. I wanted to design a house that mirrors that discovery," Handa told Dezeen.

"It is an object that resists immediate comprehension from the exterior, but provides total clarity the moment you step inside. It begins as a mystery and ends as an observatory – quite like the forest itself."

The single-storey house rests on a plateau, unfolding into two volumes that open views to the landscape, connect to existing circulation routes and work around the site's topography and mature trees.

The misalignment of the rectangular forms gives the exterior complexity, with the shapes funnelling visitors toward the entrance at their intersection.

A narrow vestibule bridges the two volumes and separates the private areas on the southeast from the public areas on the northwest.

Handa explained that the house doesn't reveal itself all at once – due to its lack of primary facade – but is understood by exploring the building, whose weathered red cedar cladding will gradually patina to grey, blending in with the silver bark of the surrounding forest trees.

Large, south-facing openings bring in soft, even light throughout the day and offer a view across the patio, between conifer trees to the lake.

On the north side of the house, high-set windows provide views of the surrounding tree canopy while preserving privacy in the sleeping areas of the home.

"The roofline echoes the steep descent of the escarpment toward the water, allowing prevailing winds from the lake to pass over the building rather than meet it directly," the studio said.

On the inside, the logic of the low-lying building is clearer, with clear sight lines and delineation.

"Inside, the experience is altogether different. The program becomes clear and deliberate," the studio said.

"This interior sequence guides the eye outward, toward the landscape. The first encounter with the lake occurs only after crossing the threshold."

Handa said the project's greatest success was the coordination of the mechanical system with the contractor and HVAC subcontractors. The team consolidated the intakes and vents and concealed them behind a single wood screen.

The resulting space allows the interior palette of white flat ceilings, wooden end walls, sloped ceilings and concrete floors to remain undisturbed.

Some of Handa's previous designs include a compact cedar cottage near Brome Lake, his own wine bar called Stem in Montreal and an L-shaped home with barn influences designed with AAmp Studio along Lake Ontario.

The photography is by Félix Michaud.

Project credits:

Architect: Ravi Handa Architect
Contractor: Construction K Laporte
Structural engineer: Geniex

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