Glass Wrapped House Design Around Apple Tree Courtyard With Views Of The Surrounding Forest

ACDF Architecture, a progressive Canadian firm internationally recognized for designing a new generation of meaningful and impactful buildings, is proud to unveil the Apple Tree House, a family retreat located in the heart of Quebec’s Lanaudière region. On a private lot engulfed by dense boreal forest, the single-story glass house epitomizes ACDF’s sensitive architectural approach to fostering human connections with nature.

Built on a 250,000 sq. ft. forested plot, the urban family wanted a modern home to enhance their communion with nature, both internally and externally, while serving as a peaceful retreat enabling family members to reconnect with each other, and to also enjoy solitary moments.

In order to integrate the apple tree in a manner that addressed the family’s desire to blur the lines between the interior of the house and its external natural beauty, ACDF focused on transparency and openness as the foundations of the obvious choice for the architectural concept: A modernist and minimalist glass house.

The firm’s design began with a simple placement of two concrete slabs, clad in solid aluminium frames, to define the horizontal limits of the structure. In the centre, to enable the replanting of the apple tree, an opening was created to maximize light penetration and frame views towards the sky and the treetops.

Three individual wooden boxes were then inserted between the horizontal planes, each slightly protruding, and each designed for its own unique purpose. The concept for the boxes was clear, and ACDF pushed, pulled, and reshaped them in order to precisely accommodate their envisioned functions.

One box houses the garage and servicing area of the home, and the second box is dedicated to the bedrooms and bathroom of the client’s children. The third box frames the master suite, comprised of a bedroom, a private lounge, and a bathroom. Each of the individual boxes offers a cozy, private retreat from the communal ambiance of the home’s main living space, yet they all maintain visual connections both to the natural setting outside, and to the home’s internal spaces across an open central courtyard that is home to the apple tree.


Project name: Apple Tree House
Location: Montreal, Canada
Area: 3800 ft²
Year: 2014
Lead Architects: Maxime-Alexis Frappier, Martin Champagne, Mireille Létourneau
Interior design & Landscape: ACDF Architecture
General Contractor: Marion Gauthier
Structural Engineer: Poincaré – Paul-Henry Boutros

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