This Mesmerizing Glass House Is Also a Photographer's Lakeside Studio

Designed by Toronto-based studio GH3, the building is continuously diffused with natural light thanks to a northern orientation, making it conducive to photography production. The glass exterior provides engagement with the landscape and an ever-changing backdrop of lake view vistas.  A supporting granite plinth, dark in appearance, blends into the surroundings while supporting the spaces atop as a glowing box. 

The transparent facade, a continuous curtain wall of Starphire glass, is a functional skin system, not only providing the necessary lighting qualities, but also natural ventilation.  Sliding panes in the glass skin allow the facade to open in warmer months to capture the lakeside breezes.  A continuous automated blind system creates a second layer of functional skin, transforming the interior into an enclosed, private space, and the exterior into a reflector of its surroundings. 

Supporting below, the granite structure houses the boats, while also providing thermal comfort and eliminating the need for active heating in cooler months.  The south-facing entrance is accessed atop the granite plinth. 

Inside, a solid mass of programmatic functions and vertical circulation is arranged in a simple, efficient volume along the south, allowing views to open up to the north.  The mezzanine space suspended above the main living area combines sleeping, bath, and wardrobe in a coexisting small footprint. A consistent theme of layered spaces and views carries from the exterior skin through the interior.  Interior partitions clad with seamless, white lacquered panels allow light to pass through.

The simple arrangement of order, beauty, and landscape evident within the glass box creates a modernist live/work studio with deciding qualities of simple open spaces, interior and exterior connectivity, and material simplicity.