Blouin Tardif Architecture-Environnement designed this house in a forested development in Boucherville, northeast of Montreal. The house was designed to be "intimate and discreet," the architects say, letting the surrounding trees double as a privacy screen.

Windows and doors were kept to a minimum on the street side. Instead, openings were generously deployed on the south side, allowing for a seamless transition—in the summer months, anyway—to a veranda and pool, and a landscaped garden. Simple, neutral materials—including red cedar from western Canada and clay bricks—were used on the outside, keeping the focus on the landscape.