Mirrored Lake Cottage by UUfie

Set within the forests of Kawartha Lakes in Ontario, Canada; Lake Cottage was designed by UUfie, a Canadian architecture firm made up of Irene Gardpoit Chan and Eiri Ota. Although the structure might at first glance appear isolated, it was actually built as an extension to a much larger, pre-existing residence.

The Lake Cottage seems to simultaneously blend in with and stand out from its environment thanks to the somewhat trippy mirrored entrance porch and the black remainder of its exterior. The house has a particularly steep pitched roof made of black steel which accommodates an unusually spacious loft and the two end gables of the structure are clad in charred cedar which makes the wood particularly resilient to termites and fires.

The choice of interior finishes in the Lake Cottage demonstrates a perfect balance between intricate details and minimalism. While a vast majority of the walls feature very clean and light wood panels, the ceiling of the loft space as pictured above is covered in rounded wood shingles reminiscent of fish scales.

A row of windows at the top of the loft cast light upon the these scales creating highly contrasting shadows. From the living room, this shingled ceiling can be seen through a row of open skylights. The design of the log-burner fireplace mimics the pitched shape of the house and features an inset strip for wood storage to great effect.

Lake Cottage can be a bit disorientating at times with what would at first glance seem to be identical sets of windows looking out onto completely different views. For example in the living area, skylights run along either side of the pitched ceiling but while one side looks outside, the other side looks through to the internal loft space and its remarkable wood shingled ceiling. Likewise in this row of four side-by-side windows found in the living room, two look through to the dining area while two look outside.

It is very apparent that the UUfie architects drew inspiration from the spruce and birch forest that surrounds the Lake Cottage while designing the interior. In the dining area these abstract windows with thick black frames resemble trees with lines branching off towards the top. The staircase that leads up to the loft area is delightfully simple and made out of a single log with a faded, driftwood-like appearance.

While there are certainly distinct rooms within the Lake Cottage, internal window frames that are void of glass have been masterfully employed to make the building also feel like a single flowing space. This arrangement allows conversations to continue between rooms but also offers a degree of solitude