Project: Whistling Wind Island / Location: Pointe Au Baril, Ontario (Canada) / Architects: Akb Architects / Location: Toronto / Size: Cottage: 1,800 square feet / Bunkie: 970 square feet / Sauna: 95 square feet / Boat storage and fitness room: 265 square feet / Photography and Videography: Doublespace
Located three hours north of Toronto, Pointe Au Baril is a dramatic freshwater landscape that is known for its many Precambrian rock archipelagoes scattered along the coast of Georgian Bay. The region attracts permanent and seasonal residents who share a profound respect for its untouched beauty.
Whistling Wind Island is one of the furthest islands from the mainland to be inhabited. Surrounded by open waters and expansive sky, it is continually exposed to changing water levels and mercurial weather patterns where morning sunshine can change to unexpected hail storms by the afternoon.
It is here that Toronto-based Akb Architects designed a cottage and a series of outbuildings for a kite surfer. The robust wind conditions make Pointe Au Baril the ideal location for the owner to enjoy his passion. The project consists of a cottage and a series of buildings, each scaled proportionately to the island’s one-acre size. “Four pitch-roofed structures, harmoniously clad in silver-weathered cedar shingles, appear as though tossed around by the wind,” the firm says. “In certain light conditions, they are barely discernible from the brownish-grey rocks surrounding them.”
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The main cottage is at the highest elevation. A bunkie, a sauna and a boat storage containing a small fitness room are located on different outcroppings and reachable via wooden plank gangways that link to boat landings and fill gaps between rocks.
“Unlike many summer homes sited in favor of one vista, the cottage and bunkie are surrounded on most sides by wrap-around decks for taking full advantage of panoramic views in every direction,” the project statement. “Their asymmetric shapes fan out over the terrain with steps angled in harmony with the natural topology of the sediment rock. There is very little sense of front and back entry points.”
Triple-pane operable glass walls provide views to the surroundings and permit multiple ways to move between indoors and out. Retracting walls also provide natural thermal control with cross breezes cooling the interior. Deeply recessed windows punctuate the façade, with overhangs that provide shade from the high summer sun and help to reduce solar heat gain.
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The main room of the cottage consists of an open kitchen, a generous dining area and a living room featuring a full-height fireplace wall made of local Muskoka granite slabs. Custom-made cedar whitewashed boards on the walls run horizontally, while matching wood planks line the cathedral ceiling, providing a contemporary interpretation of a gabled wood form found in traditional cottages.
The same material application is used in the bunkie, giving both interiors the warmth of being fully enveloped by natural wood walls, ceilings and floors. Likewise, the exterior–roof and walls–of each building is clad with Western Red Cedar shakes, creating a comforting and familiar montage as well as a shell that can withstand the extreme weather patterns of nature. Given the large windows, the building interiors are ideal for watching the dramatic summer storms that are characteristic of Pointe Au Baril.
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At 1,800 square feet, the main cottage houses two bedrooms, a shared ensuite bathroom and a laundry room in addition to the communal kitchen, dining and living areas. The bunkie is a smaller version of the cottage, designed to sleep up to four in two bedrooms with a shared bathroom. A large flagstone fireplace at its core separates the bedrooms from a kitchenette and lounge area with a pair of loveseats. While woodburning fireplaces in both indulge the sensation of elemental living, they are also the sole heat source, eliminating the need for mechanical backup systems.
“Whistling Wind Island rigorously addresses the challenges of building sustainably,” the architects say. “The two primary residents are built upon the original footprints of preexisting structures. Triple-pane operable glass walls provide natural thermal control while overhangs reduce solar heat gain. Water usage is also kept to a minimum, with low-flow plumbing fixtures and the only “bathtub” being Georgian Bay itself. A tankless, on-demand hot water system for the dishwasher and laundry reduces the amount of water required and an outdoor shower provides another lake-water bathing option.
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