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Minimalist Retreat On The Finnish Archipeligo Would Suit A West Vancouver Cliff

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With our city now so laughably unaffordable, thousands of Vancouverites are stuck imagining wonderful homes instead of living in them. “Spaced” is a record of our minds wandering the world of architecture and design, up and away from the unrewarding realities of shoebox condos, dark basement suites, and sweet fuck all on Craigslist.

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(via) Poking out from the moss, heather and juniper and overlooking the water near Naantali in Finland is the Villa Mecklin, a family retreat designed by Helsinki-based firm Huttunen Lipasti Pakkanen.

The buildings were placed amidst the shelter of the narrow zone of trees. The main building sits in a small depression in the rock, its sheltered terrace extending over the summit of the rock. One arrives from the harbour to the entrance of the main building sheltered by the trees. After a descent of a couple of steps, the expansive landscape of the western shore, with its long vistas, unfolds. A fireplace has been sunk into the centre of the large terrace, accessed via a hatch in the decking. When the fire is not lit and the hatch is in place, it is possible to use the whole terrace as, for example, a dance floor. In connection with the shoreline sauna, there is also a stove-heated cabin for guests. The building materials selected for Villa Mecklin are uncontrived, basic ones suited for the archipelago. All wood surfaces have been left untreated and will turn grey naturally.

We imagine it as a little wedge of purpose-built awesomeness on a rocky outcrop somewhere overlooking Burrard Inlet in one of West Vancouver’s more monied redoubts.

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