Minimalist steel cabin floats above a rugged slope in Quebec

After you’ve purchased a beautiful plot of land, the last thing you’d want to do is spoil the views with an incongruous house. Architecture firm <a href="http://inhabitat.com/tag/naturehumaine" target="_blank">Naturehumaine</a> achieved a harmonious balance between architecture and landscape with the Bolton Residence, a minimalist country home that overlooks Quebec’s rugged mountain environment. The house comprises two stacked parts: a concrete-and-wood plinth below a <a href="http://inhabitat.com/tag/cantilever" target="_blank">cantilevered</a> steel-clad structure that’s raised in the air to create the illusion of it floating above the wooded landscape.

To minimize the 72-square-meter home’s environmental footprint, Naturehumaine built the structure with a timber frame and clad it with locally sourced materials, from the exterior fiber-cement panels to the interior Douglas fir plywood ceiling planks.

Located in the Eastern Townships, the Bolton Residence is built on a natural plateau just below the highest point on the site.

Its minimalist gabled form is a contemporary twist on the local vernacular architecture that mostly includes steel and wooden barns with gabled roofs.

The home is cooled with passive ventilation in summer and heated with a central, slow-combustion fireplace in winter.

The home is lit with LEDs.

The concrete and wood-clad ground floor contains the garage, storage, a secondary bedroom with a bathroom, and the mechanical room.

The cantilevered upper volumes comprises the master bedroom, a terrace, and most of the living spaces, including the kitchen, living room, and dining room arranged in an open-plan layout.

The Bolton Residence includes long horizontal strips of glazing installed to maximize views of Mount Orford and the valley below.

Bolton Residence by Naturehumaine

Bolton Residence by Naturehumaine

Bolton Residence by Naturehumaine

Bolton Residence by Naturehumaine

Exploded axon diagram of the Bolton House.

Upper floor of the Bolton Residence.

Lower floor of the Bolton Residence.