Photo: Villa Boréale, courtesy of Cargo Architects.
Quebecois firm Cargo Architects were tasked with building a cottage. Sure, sounds simple enough, though to set a foundation in the lush environs that are Canada’s Boreal forest and not leave a carbon footprint is no easy feat. Luckily, the Cargo clan’s own special DNA calls for thinking out of the box to create head-turning designs.
The result of their endeavor yielded Villa Boréale, a Danish-inspired vacation home that emerges valiantly from the thick of the woods. Looking at it straight on and Villa Boréale boasts a huge picture window in the living room that overlooks a nearby footpath for black bear and deer.
The Villa Boréale by Cargo Architects features a living room and open kitchen. Photo courtesy of Cargo Architects.
The floors are rendered from concrete, the walls from locally sourced materials like cedar. So the making of the cottage did not require hauling in hefty construction equipment, goods and source material that would otherwise wreak havoc on this pristine natural habitat.
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From cedar wood siding to recycled steel used in the wall cladding, the Villa Boréale is a feat in green living and forward-thinking design. One finds a swing on the front porch, a master bedroom cut into an open kitchen and living room, and all the idyllic nature in the world for one to simply retreat from it all.
Cargo Architects’ Villa Boréale makes stunning use of space to create a modern sense of home. Photo courtesy of Cargo Architects.
We don’t often hear about the Quebecois forging such a singular path in the architecture/design conversation. But Cargo makes a strong case for the Canadians.
