New Brunswick Vacation House by Acre Architects

On the rugged, windswept coast of New Brunswick, Canada, a new house by Acre Architects perches atop a rocky outcropping, overlooking the Bay of Fundy, where the water levels can change 26 feet between high and low tide. With subtle nautical references and a material palette that defers to the vernacular tradition of the area, the Sheds of Charlotte County, as the residence is called, reflects both the maritime context and the owners’ interests.

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Inspired by an old gabled fishing shed—which, clad in weathered eastern cedar shingles and located just across the narrow causeway from the site, belonged to the client’s father—the wood and steel-frame house is broken into three volumes or “sheds,” each with a distinct program and aesthetic. “One of the client’s initial requests to us was that it didn’t feel like a giant summer home, and that it was more knitted into the community,” says Stephen Kopp, who cofounded Acre Architects with Monica Adair in 2010 in Saint John, New Brunswick.

The architects, who are married, situated the open-plan kitchen, dining, and living room in the main shed, notable for its 20-foot-tall cathedral ceiling, whitewashed oak flooring, bright white walls, and floor-to-ceiling windows facing the bay. A large triangular window, nestled beneath the apex of the gabled roof, rises above a fireplace. Just outside, an outdoor kitchen on the large, stone-paved patio provides another place for communal gatherings. “Looking out over the bay, this cove feels like being on the bridge of a ship,” says Adair.

Entryway, photo © Doublespace Photography

A passageway at the front entrance connects the main structure with the more intimate Crow Island shed, named for a nearby island. Warm western cedar planks wrap the walls and ceiling—with the exception of one wall, where silvery eastern cedar shingles cladding the house’s exterior extend inside.

The Crow Island shed, with still darker millwork and navy interior walls, contains the master and guest bedrooms, a laundry room, and a bar and lounge. A second patio separates the Crow Island shed from the third volume: the guest cottage. It contains the garage, another spare bedroom, and an office/sewing room on the lower level, while upstairs is “the kids’ place, gone wild,” says Adair. Individual curtained bunks for the couple’s three children each have their own skylight and built-in storage areas. This shed’s interiors are all spruce, which is very much a New Brunswick camp tradition, explain the architects. “This volume feels like a playhouse, while the living room is more about entertaining,” says Adair.

To Adair and Kopp, this project represented more than meeting a client’s needs. “We’re interested in reinterpreting the way Atlantic Canada is being shaped and understood in terms of architecture connecting to place,” says Adair.

Credits

Architect:

Acre Architects, 87 Canterbury Street, Suite 301, Saint John, NB E2L 2C7, (506) 658-9679, www.theacre.ca

Personnel in architect's firm who should receive special credit:

Monica Adair, Architect, AANB, MRAIC, LEED AP, Stephen Kopp, Architect, AANB, MRAIC, LEED AP,

Design Team: Jill Higgins, Architect, AANB, Kale Harper, Intern Architect, AANB, Alicia Halas, Technologist

Architect of record:

Monica Adair, Acre Architects, 87 Canterbury Street, Saint John NB, www.theacre.ca

Interior designer:

Acre Architects

Engineers:

Structural: Mayberry Engineering Ltd

General contractor:

Rob Roy Builders Inc.

Photographer:

Younes Bounhar of Doublespace Photography

Specifications

Structural System

Manufacturer of any structural components unique to this project:

Milltown Fabricators

Exterior Cladding

Wall Assembly No. 1

Eastern White Cedar Shingles with Lifetime Treatment

Rain Screen: Rigid Ventgrid

Air Barrier: Vaposhield Air Barrier