Sited to the rear of a 1920’s colonial-revival home this contemporary carriage house combines the main programs of garage and accommodation with bonus spaces for recreation. The carriage house consists of meticulously designed vehicle and sports-equipment storage including space for: for SUVs, vintage cars, UTVs, snowmobiles, bicycles, and a menagerie of sports gear. Recreation and dwelling spaces including: an art studio, gym and gaming patio on the ground floor, a garage that flexes into a covered recreation space, and a compact 8-guest accommodation on the second floor, are interwoven between and stacked above the utilitarian spaces to allow for a more seamless flow of activities. The three programs of vehicle and sports

storage, accommodation and bonus recreation spaces visually connect through the calculated placement of openings, the use of double height spaces, and a continuity of materials between spaces. This accessory structure required an extensive amount of program, while also keeping within the constraints of the footprint of an abandoned rural garage and storage shed. A light filled, open-plan and well-connected interior space was achieved while fulfilling the client’s program requirements within a limited building footprint. The sense of openness – inside such a programmatically dense structure - is the result of the careful articulation of spaces and materials to create something that can celebrate the utilitarian and enhance the day-to-day. The building form, while contemporary, is respectful of the vernacular gable-roofed barns found throughout the region. The natural materials selected allows the carriage house to become grounded within its context: The shou sugi ban (charred-wood) façade and dark roof material complements the main house, cedar garage door panels pull tones from the surrounding forest, and locally sourced stone cladding draws inspiration and material from the perimeter walls of the property. At the interior, the generous use of maple cladding coupled-with the separation of the roof from the wall by means of a clerestory window creates a warmth in the enclosure and a lightness of structure. The careful detailing of the millwork, railings, and doorways give the sense of a system that is refined to the point where, like a machine, you forget it exists at all and instead it just becomes a tool for whatever you can achieve with it. Here, the carriage house, is a tool for fun: for guests, for snow toys, for children to play, for the family to come together. It is, as our client calls it: “the fun house”.