Canada’s distinct design tradition has lengthy flown below the radar of the worldwide structure neighborhood, however 2024 would possibly simply be the yr this modifications. Over the previous decade, small corporations from coast to coast have been gaining momentum, and their labors are lastly yielding fruit. Dubbeldam Structure + Design is one such observe.
Because the jury from the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada (the AIA equal north of the border) defined when honoring the agency with the celebrated Structure Observe Award earlier this yr, “Dubbeldam Structure + Design is overdue for important recognition as they’ve set an instance for the breadth, important sensibility, and sense of accountability they convey to architectural observe and its social contexts. Dubbeldam has an ongoing dedication to the career at massive via the standard of its work and important developments in fairness, range, and inclusion initiatives. Their established workplace is understood throughout Canada for his or her zeal and honest perception in structure as a instrument for change.”
Consistently setting new requirements for the career, the Toronto-based agency additionally clinched one other accolade in Architizer’s twelfth A+Awards season for his or her exceptional Bunkie on the Hill challenge, which considerably reimagines the A-frame typology. This boundary-pushing design method is indicative of an distinctive agency tradition cultivated over the previous 20 years that consistently questions and rethinks the belief underlying normal observe. This method is exemplified by their inclusion within the 2023 Venice Structure Biennale, the place, alongside the work of eight different women-led structure corporations — together with Alison Brooks Architects, Studio Gang, Mecanoo and extra — they showcased their analysis into liveability in collective housing on the European Cultural Centre’s Palazzo Mora.
Because the Canadian agency expands its world attain, Architizer’s Managing Editor Hannah Feniak sat down with principal and founder Heather Dubbeldam to delve deeper into the tradition and design philosophy behind their current string of successes.
Bata Shoe Manufacturing unit by Dubbeldam Structure + Design and BDP Quadrangle, Astra, Quinte West, Canada, Jury Winner, tenth Annual A+Awards, Structure +Stairs; photograph by Scott Norsworthy
Hannah Feniak: Congratulations on each your RAIC and A+Awards accolades! What does this sort of recognition imply in your agency, and might you elaborate on the way you imagine structure could be a instrument for change?
Heather Dubbeldam: Thanks! Receiving the 2024 RAIC Architectural Observe Award and an A+Award this yr (our seventh one!) are unimaginable honors for our agency. The Architectural Observe Award holds important that means for us as we now have strived to not solely ship high-quality design and champion sustainable approaches in our work, but additionally to advocate for our friends within the career and contribute to the broader dialogue in regards to the function and influence of structure in society. This recognition validates our constant efforts to raise the standard of the constructed surroundings via our tasks and advocacy work, reminiscent of Twenty + Change and Park(ing) Day Toronto.
So far as the second a part of your query, we see structure as way more than the creation of particular person buildings, we see it as a method to form higher, extra equitable and sustainable cities. We imagine that high quality structure could be a instrument for change by creating areas or environments that prioritize innovation, environmental stewardship, and social influence.
Take for instance our personal workplace, a as soon as dilapidated century-old constructing that we revitalized right into a neighborhood hub which now consists of our studio, a coworking area, a advertising and marketing company, an indie espresso store and a residential unit. This challenge offered a possibility for us to show considered one of our core beliefs about city renewal: that well-designed structure can positively influence a neighborhood and catalyze change. We’re all conscious of the transformative energy of a single exemplary constructing to uplift a whole neighborhood.
Dubbeldam Workplace by Dubbeldam Structure + Design, Toronto, Canada, Fashionable Selection Winner, tenth Annual A+Awards, Structure +Renovation; photograph by Scott Norsworthy
Your portfolio has nice vary when it comes to typology and scale; what method or options are widespread throughout your whole tasks?
On the core of our observe is a dedication to prime quality design and the optimistic influence it could possibly have on customers and future generations. We imagine that each element, from the general spatial format to the selection of supplies and finishes, performs an important function in shaping the person expertise and the general success of a design. By prioritizing craftsmanship, use of fascinating supplies or kinds, or uncommon methods of occupying area, we hope that our designs encourage individuals and convey them pleasure.
We additionally discover contextual design that respects and responds to the cultural and bodily context of every website. Whether or not we’re working in an city or rural setting, our designs search to determine a significant dialogue with the encompassing surroundings, contributing to the enhancement of the constructed or pure panorama. One exception to the contextual method could be our design analysis explorations into housing density, which search to be provocative and stimulate dialogue round other ways to extend density in cities.
One other key component of our work is a concentrate on sustainability and wellness. Whether or not we’re designing a residential dwelling, a business property, or a hospitality area, we prioritize vitality effectivity, use of sustainable supplies, and the mixing of pure parts. This method not solely minimizes our tasks’ environmental footprint but additionally creates more healthy and extra resilient areas for occupants.
Bunkie on the Hill by Dubbeldam Structure + Design, Muskoka District Municipality, Canada, Fashionable Selection Winner, twelfth Annual A+Awards, Personal Home S (1000 – 2000 sq ft); photographs by Riley Snelling
Your Bunkie on the Hill challenge, which simply received an Architizer A+Award, strikes a concord with the gorgeous pure panorama that surrounds it. What impressed the design and what have been the objectives for the challenge?
The aim for this challenge was to create a bunkie (cabin within the woods) that provides a quiet escape from the motion of the multigenerational household cottages situated beneath. Tucked into the timber on the prime of a steep slope, the Bunkie permits members of the family to retreat and reconnect with nature. We reimagined the traditional A-frame cabin by manipulating the roof type, leading to distinct elevations with uniquely formed home windows that body picturesque views from every area, enhancing the reference to the outside. A tall, slim, glazed facade opens as much as the lake, whereas a wider, extra opaque elevation on the alternative facet nestles into the forest. The cut up roof design with intersecting gables permits for central window openings, offering curated views of the sky and the lake and welcoming ample mild into the middle of the cabin.
Using pure supplies, reminiscent of wooden and stone, enhances this connection, whereas the minimalist, clear strains of the design be sure that it enhances moderately than competes with the panorama. The area is outlined by the Canadian Protect, an enormous geological formation protecting a lot of jap, central, and northern Canada, characterised by historic, uncovered bedrock. The ICF foundations are seated straight on and contoured to the rock, clad in skinny board-formed concrete panels to impart a way of solidity and texture. The darkened wooden siding blends in with the forest, and the slatted wooden display on the entrance mimics tree trunks seen via framed views. Using wooden on the inside creates heat, permitting occupants to calm down whereas surrounded by the pure magnificence outdoors.
Bunkie on the Hill by Dubbeldam Structure + Design, Muskoka District Municipality, Canada, Fashionable Selection Winner, twelfth Annual A+Awards, Personal Home S (1000 – 2000 sq ft); photograph by Riley Snelling
The challenge is an exemplar in wooden detailing, inside and outside. What knowledgeable your materials alternatives and what influence did they’ve on the design?
The supplies for the challenge have been chosen for his or her pure magnificence, tactile qualities, and relationship to the area’s prevalent wooden species. Inside supplies embrace oak flooring, maple plywood, and cedar cladding, contrasted by darkish charcoal window frames and gray limestone parts like counters and the hearth fireplace. The number of wooden species was used to distinguish the varied planes within the area — white wallboard defines the inside perimeter partitions, inside partitions are clad in maple plywood, and the ceiling is delineated by Western pink cedar slats. The fabric alternatives have been guided by a need to create a serene, timeless area that celebrates the innate qualities of wooden whereas providing a sense of heat and richness.
Bunkie on the Hill by Dubbeldam Structure + Design, Muskoka District Municipality, Canada, Fashionable Selection Winner, twelfth Annual A+Awards, Personal Home S (1000 – 2000 sq ft); photographs by Riley Snelling
The constructing options quite a few sustainable properties — what have been a few of the challenges you navigated in detailing an vitality environment friendly construction?
Sustainable supplies and development strategies have been equally vital to the shopper as they’re to us, and offered a problem given the forested location. To reduce environmental influence, the bunkie is positioned inside an present tree-clearing, making certain minimal disturbance to the land. Elevating the primary area above grade, the muse was constructed upon the pure rock contours, eliminating the necessity for big equipment and in depth excavation via blasting. Thermal effectivity was optimized via thickened exterior partitions boasting an R-value over 40 and triple-glazed home windows put in all through. The massive spans for the lofty inside necessitated metal construction, introducing the potential for thermal bridging. To mitigate this, our workforce utilized flitch beams — metal parts encased in wooden — which assist to maintain the structural members lighter and smaller, making them simpler to deal with. Moreover, all wooden merchandise utilized in development and on the inside are FSC-rated, and the few plumbing and lighting fixtures are low stream and low vitality.
Do you’ve got any upcoming tasks that you just’re enthusiastic about?
Sure! We’re enthusiastic about so many tasks that we’re at present engaged on, together with an eco-cabin resort in Muskoka, Ontario with an all-season out of doors spa; a spatially creative bar/restaurant idea spanning three flooring inside a heritage constructing within the coronary heart of Toronto’s fashionable West Queen West district; and a timber addition to an all-women golf course clubhouse that’s at present below development and shall be accomplished subsequent yr. We’ve additionally been engaged on a collection of extremely sustainable lacking center multi-unit housing tasks built-in into present Toronto neighborhoods, together with ongoing design analysis and prototypes that discover liveability in collective housing, a important consideration as city density will increase in our cities.
Binary Spectrum by Dubbeldam Structure + Design, Kitchener, Canada, Fashionable Selection Winner, eleventh Annual A+Awards, Structure +Shade; photographs by Riley Snelling
When you had one piece of recommendation to structure corporations contemplating coming into the A+Awards subsequent yr, what wouldn’t it be?
Inform an amazing story! The A+Awards have fun not simply distinctive design, however the narrative and influence of every challenge. Attempt to spotlight the distinctive imaginative and prescient and challenges that differentiate your tasks, and the way the design addresses broader social and environmental wants. We at all times attempt to current a compelling story that demonstrates not solely the aesthetic and practical qualities of our tasks but additionally their significance and contribution to the constructed surroundings. In the end, collaborating within the A+Awards not solely pushes us to excel but additionally amplifies the popularity of structure’s transformative energy, inspiring a broader viewers to understand the profound influence of remarkable design.
To see extra of Dubbeldam Structure + Design’s award-winning tasks, go to the agency’s in-depth Architizer profile.
Prime picture: Bunkie on the Hill by Dubbeldam Structure + Design, Muskoka District Municipality, Canada, Fashionable Selection Winner, twelfth Annual A+Awards, Personal Home S (1000 – 2000 sq ft); photograph by Riley Snelling
