Just as its alpine setting has been formed by many forces over time, Villa Courbe is a residence shaped intuitively and alliteratively by many hands – from sun and topography to brief and local zoning regulations. Seen from the water, the house appears almost at one with the wooded hills that rise gently out of the lake and, at the same time, very different to the traditional suburbia that surrounds it. The need to respond to the topography that came before drives the design to contrast with the neighbouring houses that appeared only after the glaciers and ice had done their work.

Entry is on a mid-level below a suspended canopy that further parts the slices into two wings and, in doing so, opens up a view across the lake to the mountains beyond. Swooping down between these wings, a sculptural planted roof both echoes a distinctive fold in the distant alpine skyline and responds to prescriptions in the local zoning scheme. As fundamental as the sharp peaks and soft hills that characterize the views from the plot, sunlight, that precious commodity on the 46th parallel, is the other guiding hand which shapes the spaces and sculpts the forms. The site responds to its north-west orientation, and every effort was made to bring south light into the house. Carving the program into parallel “slices” exposes two south elevations. The first of these – at the entrance – is largely closed up with zinc cladding to provide privacy, but high-level clerestory windows scoop art-friendly light deep into the basement gallery.