Maurice Martel has completed a contemporary cabin in the woods, a simple country retreat in Mandeville, Quebec, a rural municipality about 120km north of Montreal. Designed as a place to escape from the city in summer and winter, Rustic Grade sits on a secluded, deep-country site, surrounded by a forest and bordered by a river.
Rustic Grade: a contemporary cabin in the woods
At 1,400 sq ft, this is a small dwelling by North American standards. The simplicity of the architectural approach is epitomised by the spatial arrangement, which neatly slots all the clients’ requirements into a near-perfect cubic form. This geometric simplicity was chosen to be a deliberate contrast with the richness of the surrounding trees, while also conveying a sense of economy of form and purpose.
Energy efficiency also shaped the plan, with every window carefully orientated in order to maximise natural light to the south, as well as forest and river views. External and internal material choices are hard-wearing and minimal. An external storage unit is a study in precision-poured concrete that also shields the porch and front door.
The interior design, the work of Caroline Tourigny, is set against a backdrop of polished concrete floors and lime-painted walls. The sitting room is a double-height space, rising up 6m, with the upper levels clad in spruce.
A seating area is clustered around a wood-burning stove, with the staircase tucked away in one corner and the galley kitchen running the length of the other side of the room. The walnut cabinetry, chairs and table give off a rich, textured ambience that pairs with the exterior vistas.
Because of the double-height spaces, the upper level doesn’t take up the entire floor area. Up here, there are three core spaces: a home office overlooking the sitting area, adjoining a raised seating area that doubles up as a guest sleeping space; a bedroom; and a shower room and sauna. The last has a glazed wall to allow residents to take in nature while inside it.
Martel describes the upper floor as ‘a sanctuary … where the warmth of the rustic spruce envelops the space in an intimate and authentic atmosphere.’ The main bed is a ‘cocoon’, ensconced within the spruce-clad walls with a view across the forest and the sound of the running river in the distance.
As a nature-focused getaway, Rustic Grade is hard to beat. Martel set up his studio in 2016. Based in Montreal, the office works across a number of scales and typologies.
