Gananoque Lake Road House

Gananoque Lake Road House, completed in 2007, was the first Solares project. Fresh out of school with their Master of Architecture degrees, Tom and Christine paired up for the first time as business partners to design and build a new home for Christine’s parents on their large, rural property in Gananoque, Ontario. One of the project’s main goals was to seamlessly integrate the home into the surrounding landscape, which includes a large outcropping of elevated, flat-topped bedrock next to the site of the house.

The two storey house is built adjacent to the outcropping, and has entrances on both levels. The main entrance is located on the lower floor and faces north to the road, and the upper floor opens to a large south-facing wooden deck that bridges the house and the outcropping, with its far end sitting flush to the bedrock. The large deck, complete with a hot tub, provides easy access to the rock “outlook” which has a fire pit, an intimate seating area and a spectacular view over the property, filled with marshland, trees, wildflowers and high grasses.

The house was built with passive solar strategies, including superior insulation, triple-glazed windows, and natural cross-ventilation patterns. The upper floor’s main living area faces south and features large, triple-glazed windows that not only capture beautiful views of the property, but also capture of the rays of winter sun that provide free heating in winter months. A roof overhang of 4 ft. keeps both the deck and the house cool in the hotter months by providing shade from the high-angled summer sun. Awning windows on the upper level allows for cross ventilation, and the stack effect draws cool air throughout the house. The house’s concrete structure acts as a thermal mass that keeps the indoor air temperature comfortable and consistent.

From start to finish, construction on the house lasted 13 months. The final EnerGuide rating is an impressive 87. Even in the hottest months, the house stays comfortable and cool; indoor temperatures have never exceeded 26°C.

The main entrance is located on the ground floor opposite the main stairs. On one side of the foyer is a two-bedroom, one-bathroom guest wing. The bathroom connects directly to the hallway and to one of the bedrooms, making it a semi-ensuite! At the far end of the hallway, a side door opens out to the garden. On the other side of the foyer is access to a two-car garage, a storage closet, a large workshop and the mechanical room.

Upstairs, the Great Room stretches out to the east, with a long southern exposure. The Great Room includes a kitchen with a spacious island, a dining area that fits a large table for eight, and a corner living area. The dining area has direct access to the spacious southern deck, and the living area opens to a cozy, screened-in porch for outdoor dining with breathtaking views of the property below the outcropping.

On the west side of the upstairs zone is a small bathroom, a large laundry room, and a two-person home office. The master bedroom with an ensuite bathroom is located on the southern end of the zone, with substantial closet space.

The exterior structure is extremely sturdy and environmentally conscious. The structure is made of 10 in. thick ICF blocks by Durisol that are locally manufactured. Reinforcing steel was inserted into the block cavities and the cavities were then sealed with concrete. Metal Z-bars and wood strapping was then fixed to the outside to provide fastening points for exterior cladding. The roofing and siding are both corrugated steel, made by Vic West Steel.

ICF forms already have an insulation value of R8, so with only 3 in. of spray-applied polyurethane insulation we achieved an R25 wall. The spray foam was applied to both the roof and walls, achieving a tight and seamless air barrier.

The floors are also made of concrete, with the ground floor a conventional slab-on-grade that was poured over in-floor heating tubes. R15 insulation sits under the slab. The concrete upper floor is supported by a 12 in., open-web, steel floor system by Hambro, also equipped with in-floor heating.

The main water supply is drawn from a 300 ft. well, which provides enough water for both domestic use and for an on-site geothermal heat pump. The heat pump transfers relative warmth from the well water to the in-floor heating system, after which the water is returned back to the aquifer. There is a heat recovery ventilator (HRV) that provides the home with fresh air, and rooftop solar panels produce enough energy to heat the domestic hot water. In the colder months, a super-efficiency wood stove creates additional heat for the home.

Non-toxic materials were chosen as much as possible for the interiors. Low-VOC (Volatile Organic Compound) paint was used throughout, and the kitchen and bathroom cabinetry is free of formaldehydes.