Tour a family retreat in the Canadian Rocky Mountains, by New York studio Young Projects, that protects and cocoons
Cut Out House's distinct geometry is not random; nor was it an architect's flight of fancy or a purely aesthetic gesture. Set in the foothills of the Canadian Rocky Mountains, this home, a family's holiday retreat, posed the challenge of navigating shelter and openness – offering the protective, all-mod-cons cocoon of a comfortable 21st-century residence, and connecting with the site's dramatic natural setting.
As a response to this brief, its author, architect Bryan Young and his-based team at the creative collective Young Projects, composed a structure that opens to the landscape but also features a 'cut out' element, forming a curved opening – an embrace, where the home encircles nature while also creating an inviting, protective space away from winds and the wilderness. This concave shape is informed by a large boulder found – and retained – on site, which now signals the entrance to the residence.
The 3,320 sq ft Cut Out House is striking – respectfully rivalling its context, a sweeping, lush natural landscape and the point where the local forest and mountains meet. A butterfly roof becomes another key feature in this project, defining its overall volume as seen across the nearby body of water from a distance.
Internally, the house balances serenity and dynamism, orientated towards its long vistas, which are framed through large openings on the opposite side of the rounded entrance patio. Behind those openings, a main piano nobile spans an open-plan living, kitchen, dining area and a study. One primary suite and three further guest bedrooms are nestled underneath, into the slope. The material palette was conceived to mirror the home's natural setting, using primarily textured concrete, light wood, and warm stone.
Furnishings and colour tones nod to midcentury architecture icons, blended with contemporary pieces from companies such as B&B Italia, Bocci and Bloc Studios. A fast-emerging and extremely versatile studio, Young Projects has a strong focus on material explorations and work that plays with form, textures and scale to dramatic but also highlight function-driven effect. Past work includes the playfulReceive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox.
Receive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsorsEllie Stathaki is the Architecture & Environment Director at Wallpaper*. She trained as an architect at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in Greece and studied architectural history at the Bartlett in London. Now an established journalist, she has been a member of the Wallpaper* team since 2006, visiting buildings across the globe and interviewing leading architects such as Tadao Ando and Rem Koolhaas.
Ellie has also taken part in judging panels, moderated events, curated shows and contributed in books, such as The Contemporary House , Glenn Sestig Architecture Diary and House London .
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