Project: Anchor Island Residence, Georgian Bay ON
Date Completed: December 2011

This summer family retreat occupies its own island in Lake Huron’s Georgian Bay.  In contrast to their traditional 1940′s cabin, the client wanted a contemporary solution, that captured island living with out the the annual maintenance.  The new building mass echos the inclined wedge of the island’s Precambrian shield.  A breezeway with siding barn doors separates the sleeping wing from the public wing and provides a entry hall sheltered from the afternoon thundershowers.  Raw materials such as metal cladding, rough-sawn wood and simple details compliment the exposed and often rugged environment.  A photo-voltaic system provides power and services to this off-the-grid get-away.

CDD used a unique on-site design workshop with the family members to establish a building program, develop conceptual options and to mock up the footprints on site, as a full scale test.  This workshop method dramatically compressed the conceptual design phase and within a month the project was into design development shortly into permit drawings.