The playful aesthetics of Toronto–based architecture firm UUfie are brought to life in the Lake Cottage, a contemporary cabin that offers a strikingly different take on the local housing vernacular.

Built as a house extension for a large family, the steeply pitched, two-story structure is partially sheathed in one-way mirror glass that creates effective camouflage against the forested setting and provides the interior with uninterrupted views of Mother Nature.

To further recede the building into the landscape, the architects have used black steel for the 23-foot-tall roof, and wrapped the exterior in charred cedar siding, which has been made from the Shou Sugi Ban technique.

“Lake Cottage is a reinterpretation of living in a tree house, where nature is an integral part of the building,” explain the architects of the 700-square-foot cabin.

“It’s designed with interior and exterior spaces connected fluidly, and repeat the experience of living within the branches of a tree.”

At the heart of the cabin is a large, light-filled living space punctuated by 14 openings, half of which frame views of the outdoors while the remainder reveal the peripheral rooms— the covered terrace, dining area, and upstairs loft.

“[This is] further articulated with the edges and finishes of interior panels kept raw to show the inherit nature of materials used,” add the architects.

“This abstract nature of the interior spaces allows imagination to flow, and those spaces that could be identified as a domestic interior can suddenly become play spaces.”

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Project Credits:

Architect of Record: UUfie

Builder/General Contractor: Level Design Build