Creating a home with character
Kerry McCluskey
Northern News Services
Iqaluit (Feb 12/01) - Cindy Cowan lives in my dream home.
From every window there is a view of the ocean. Wood graces the walls, floors and ceilings of most of the rooms. And, perhaps the most dreamy of all, her two teenaged daughters have their own separate wing in the house.
I would like to live there, too.
Cowan said the idea to create the red, green and yellow rectangular masterpiece came about after she and her spouse discovered just how much it would cost them to become homeowners in Iqaluit.
"We thought we might as well get what we wanted," said Cowan, who has been residing in the structure since June.
The idea of building something with an architect appealed to the couple after they rented units in Pangnirtung and Iqaluit for the last 12 years. She said she knew precisely what they did and did not want.
Enter Keith Irving of Full Circle Architecture. Known for his unique artistic style and creative use of space, Cowan said it was a match made in heaven.
"Keith has created a home that is full of character. Every one of the rooms is interesting and unique and integrated into the total space," said Cowan.
"He has integrated the house into the environment."
It's all in the view
Finding it difficult to pinpoint a feature of the house she liked above all others, Cowan managed to narrow it down to the panoramic view. She said by placing a myriad of differently shaped windows around the house, Irving had succeeded in catching the spirit of Iqaluit.
"He's really captured what this town is about. Iqaluit is growing into a city and we have a view of that, but he's also captured the quintessential Canadian geography, the ruggedness of it," she said.
Irving also created the separate section for the teenagers at the request of Cowan and her spouse. Cowan said given the difficulty youth have in finding available housing, they wanted to ensure their children had the space they needed as they got older.
"Both the girls were expanding as teenagers. We had to deal with duelling televisions and stereos," said Cowan.
"We wanted them to have a separate space they could grow into," she said.
Irving was unavailable for comment, but fellow architect Ambrose Livingstone of Livingstone Architects said architecture was a bridge between art and science.
"When you design a building, the architect wants it to appear as if it belongs to a particular site," said Livingstone.
That means taking several factors -- including the site itself, the layout of the land, the opportunity for views, the interior of the building -- into account as plans are drawn up.
Working outside the box
Robert Billard, an architect for Ferguson Simek Clark, said homes like Cowan's were created when designers strayed from what he called the architecture of fear.
"So much of Northern architecture is the architecture of fear from the 1950s and 1960s," said Billard.
"When southern architects started coming up, they feared the environment. Since that time, materials have gotten better and cheaper ... and there's more understanding of the environment and human needs," said Billard.
An example of that he said was the design of Northern schools. He said architects used to avoid installing windows because it was felt sunlight and the outdoors offered too much distraction for students.
Billard also said architects had come to realize they could play with the traditional shapes to create funky, original buildings.
"The magic of Cowan's house is that they've taken the idea of a box and said what if we take two boxes and hit them against each other," he said. It stands proud on top of that hill. It's so refreshing to see."
