A cottage is a place to join with family and friends in reconnecting to the fundamental elements of the world around us.

We work directly with you, listening to your hopes and dreams for your new cottage. We help you imagine who will join you and how your use of this place might change in the years and decades to come.

As we walk a site with you, we search for its unique physical and ephemeral qualities. We absorb, synthesize, and respond to the personal, cultural, and physical aspects of a site as we begin to imagine the form and material of the structures and spaces that might emerge.

Through early discussions, doodles, and design sketches, to later technical drawings and 3D visualizations and into the construction itself — we are there with you every step of the way, helping you turn an idea into a reality.

Practice

Ian Maclaren architect was launched in 2016 from a reorganization of the Hicks Partnership, where Mr. Maclaren served as a key member of the design staff and then partner for more than 20 years. Ian and his team bring more than 30 years of experience to the design of cottage living.

Ian is a graduate of the School of Architecture at the University of Waterloo, where he obtained Bachelor of Environmental Studies and Bachelor of Architecture degrees. He is a member of the Ontario Association of Architects and the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada.

Mr. Maclaren’s interest in cottage design arose through opportunities presented early in his professional career to address the physical and theoretical fundamentals that building in cottage country presented. Drawing upon his own lifelong cottaging experience, he continues to explore the interplay of history, geography, and construction technique with our evolving ideas of nature.

Approach

We believe that our clients benefit from three key attributes of our firm:

Collaboration — The best projects are realized when the client, design team, and builder each contribute their own ideas, concerns, and enthusiasm throughout the design and construction process. The result is a built form that could not have been imagined by any of these individuals alone, but instead benefits from the wider range of experience, observations, and interests of all — a unique and appropriate response to a particular client, site, and time.

Involvement — Our involvement from inception to inhabitation allows us to carry the intentions of the project through to realization, taking initial conversations and half-expressed early notions and giving them form. With several projects in cottage country underway at any time, we can visit multiple sites in a day, ensuring our presence on site in a financially viable manner. Beyond avoiding costly mistakes, this allows the build team to propose alternative solutions to questions or opportunities that arise in the course of construction.

Experience — Our firm draws on the lessons of having designed over 200 unique cottage sites. From a cottage, boathouse, or bunkie to an artist’s studio, personal gym, or year-round home on the water, we have addressed the unique regulatory, cultural, and physical constraints of sites throughout cottage country.

Research

Information-gathering is critical to the outcome of your project. It’s a time for asking questions, both big and small, and setting out priorities. We begin with your hopes and dreams for your new cottage.

• What spaces appeal to you or linger in your memory?
• What images do you have in your mind, a folder or a scrapbook?
• What spaces and materials resonate with this site, in this time, to this family?
• What kind of spaces do you need? How many bedrooms or washrooms? How many people will be sitting at the dinner table?
• Where is the best swimming and how can we easily get there barefoot?
• What is an appropriate and feasible budget?

As we explore every nook and cranny of the site with you, we document the views, orientation, access, existing structures, and shoreline character, all the while keeping in mind the natural environs surrounding your site.

• Where does the sun rise and where do you need shade?
• What are the prevailing winds?
• What is the vegetation?

We investigate municipal zoning by-laws, and issues with other organizations having jurisdiction over built forms. We then assess how long it may take to secure approvals.

Schematic design

With a clear understanding of your needs, tentative ideas and fleeting impressions, we begin to synthesize the information through sketches and renderings.

In our case, these initial drawings are hand-sketched designs; typically including a site plan, floor plans, and an elevation or other exterior view of the structure. These drawings attempt to balance the competing and often contradictory demands that came up during the research stage.

We explore these initial ideas together — excited by some, rejecting others — working toward a second iteration, or a third, as more options arise and additional factors come in to play.

Through this collaboration, we will reach an understanding of the overall scale of the project, the size and relationship of its parts, the general look and feel of the structure, and how it sits on the site. Working with a qualified builder – if you have one in mind at this point – these drawings can be used to develop an initial project cost estimate.

Design development

From the hand-drawn sketches we move to hard-lined drawings that test and develop the ideas proposed in the schematic design stage. Looking to strengthen and enrich our initial design ideas, we extend the patterns and materials proposed, filtering them through the ideas and priorities gathered in our pre-design work.

From here we produce a set of drawings (plans, elevations, sections, 3D views) that show the spatial characteristics and components of the project. These drawings can be used to begin the approvals process and to refine the project budget.

Working drawings

This is when we must answer all the questions about how the design will be built. Our drawings codify how the building is made and how it goes together, including key construction information such as:

• Full dimensions
• Flooring and foundation types
• Floor, wall, and roof assemblies
• Structural information
• Window and door schedules

We coordinate our work with that of several consultants, including structural, mechanical, landscape and interior design professionals. We may also recommend and source products and materials.

We then assemble the package of drawings and calculations required to obtain a building permit. Together with a specification of finishes and equipment, these drawings can be used to provide detailed budget estimates.

Construction

Once construction is underway, our involvement ranges from occasional site visits that keep us apprised of progress to regularly scheduled visits and construction cost reviews. We determine the frequency of our visits based on your knowledge or comfort with the builder’s services or monitoring procedures.

If an issue does arise, we respond quickly to address any question from the site. And we are often involved in reviewing “shop” drawings, detailing elements of the building including windows and doors, timber frames, roof trusses, and floor systems.