CLEARVIEW RESIDENCE BY ALTIUS ARCHITECTURE INC

A functional and well-integrated Canadian residence

Building a house in the middle of nature is always a challenge for architects because, in the end, the house has to blend in with its environment rather than struggle with it. And when we look at what is modern architecture today, we face a contradiction. On one hand, architects and clients tend to become more responsible and awarethat the environment needs to be protected and preserved. That’s one of the reasons for the growing number of green houses and sustainable constructions. On the other hand, the form of modern buildings is usually very geometrical, straight and sometimes cold. The technology helping us design and construct these creations is getting more powerful and allows us to almost reach organized and balanced perfection ,which is the opposite of the chaos and random perfection that we can find in nature.

The challenge gets even bigger when you face a radical change of seasons as they do in Canada. Altius Architecture Inc had this in mind when they chose the materials for the Clearview Residence. The goal was to reflect the nature of the adjacent landscape and integrate the seasonally changing colors of the surrounding woods. Taking advantage of the site, rather than wasting it, became the main focus of the project. Making a space user-friendly, functional and well-integrated in its environment has become a major challenge in modern architecture.