Opeongo Road House

On a farm in the Ottawa Valley, Opeongo House was designed to have a positive impact on its surroundings and its inhabitants —  from its modest scale, and passive sustainable features, to its locally-sourced materials.

Inspired by the wooden barns sprinkled throughout the surrounding landscape, Opeongo House has a simple and compact form. Its floor plans maximize the built area both horizontally and vertically, with most of the amenities efficiently situated on the ground floor, and a sleeping loft above.

We considered everything about the design for low impact, energy-efficiency, and longevity. The high-quality wood exterior envelope is thoroughly insulated to function well in all seasons, and an in-floor radiant heating system uses an on-demand boiler to warm the house using minimal energy. Locally sourced pine and birch, all milled on site, were used to clad all walls, floors, and ceilings, resulting in an entirely drywall free interior.

Using digital modelling tools to optimize the siting and orientation of the house, as well as the window size and placements, we created a passive ventilation system that nullified the need for air conditioning by leveraging shading in the summer and solar heat gain in winter.