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Governor General's Medals in Architecture — 2018 Recipient

Two Hulls House
Port Mouton,
NS
Award Category: 
Governor General’s Medals in Architecture

MacKay-Lyons Sweetapple Architects

Lead design architect(s): 

Brian MacKay-Lyons, FRAIC

Occupancy: 2011

Two volumes cantilever above the shoreline like two ship's hulls resting on cradles for the winter, forming protected outdoor spaces both between and underneath them. Like a pair of binoculars, Two Hulls House acts as a landscape-viewing instrument, effortlessly framing the environment. It is a permanent home for a family of four, consisting of a day pavilion and a night pavilion. One approaches the understated, abstract public façade, then proceeds through the foyer, turning right to the sleeping pavilion or left into the living pavilion. Inside the great room is a floating hearth 7.3-metres-long, the focal point of this space.Ìý

Jury Comment(s): 

"Drawing vernacular references into a form evocative of two bridges cantilevered over the water, the Two Hull House generates a dramatic presence on the landscape. In abstracting the forms of the ships that once helped build up the region, the architect has infused the house with an intriguing ghost-like quality and a strong sense of place. Inside, the architecture and ocean are in dialogue, with a fenestration pattern that offers a variety of views that are distinctively different from the generic linear ocean views of most waterfront houses. The hooded decks give a sense of comfort and shelter in a harsh climate, even as they literally bring the inhabitants closer to the ocean."

Click for full version: 

Photo: James Brittain

Photo: James Brittain

Photo: James Brittain

Photo: Greg Richardson

Photo: James Brittain