This cozy cottage sits on stilts made out of recycled gas pipes

This year-round cottage on stilts in Canada, designed for a couple and their son, floats above a lakeside site prone to flooding and freeze-thaw weathering. Architecture firm DIN Projects designed the cottage as a vertical wood platform structure that overlooks Lake Winnipeg on stilts made out of recycled gas pipes.

The owners obtained the cottage lot through the provincial cottage lot lottery system. The site has Lake Winnipeg frontage, but the regulations limit how close to the water the owner can build. The site was problematic due to flooding and the porous nature of the shallow layer of overburden. This is why the architects opted for stilts made from recycled gas pipes, with foundations drilled into the subterranean bedrock.

The house has three floors connected with a stair that winds around each floor plate. The wooden frame, studs and plywood sheathing are left exposed in the interior. Internal ducting helps provide fresh air and distributes it vertically. The main heating source is a cast iron stove in the center of the cottage.