Quebec Pool House

This Pool House and spa is built into the side of a mountain at the point where it meets the St. Lawrence River valley floor. Built for a discerning client on his rural property west of Montreal, this seemingly simple structure is intricately crafted. It’s a minimalist project, inspired by Mies van der Rohe’s 1929 Barcelona Pavilion, which established the grammar for this elemental modern architecture.

A glass box containing a gym, lounge, and bathing and changing areas is embraced by elongated board-formed concrete walls that reach out into the landscape. These walls wrap around an outdoor infinity lap pool and hot tub that stretch towards the agrarian floodplain in the distance. A monolithic roof floats above the glass box, with a cedar board soffit that extends above an outdoor fireplace and the pool, offering protection from the elements.

This is an all-weather building, designed for use in all four seasons. The glass walls surrounding the gym space can be opened completely, reinforcing the indoor/outdoor nature of this space. Services are relegated to the back, north of the pavilion, and buried below ground. The public façade of this project opens to the southwest to take full advantage of natural light, essential to this pool house’s program.

MacKay-Lyons Sweetapple Architects