Palissade by naturehumaine [architecture+design]
Architecture studio naturehumaine has completed an intentionally opaque masonry-walled house in Austin, Canada, featuring a skylight and large windows that were strategically positioned to increase natural daylight within the interior. Palissade, which was designed and finished in 2024, has a gabled roof with a skylight illuminating its airy interiors, decorated with tactile materials and textures.

naturehumaine Designs Palissade for Dense Urban Environments
Palissade, which was designed and finished in 2024, has a gabled roof with a skylight illuminating its airy interiors, decorated with tactile materials and textures. According to naturehumaine, the exterior is a defensive-looking structure that helps to mitigate overcrowding and flooding on site.

Palissade Takes Advantage of the Panoramic Views
The third and fourth walls are dense, working as acoustic barriers.
A diagonal wall was built to structurally divide the garden and street levels without cutting off the views, while a skylight cut into the roof “ensures that the living spaces opening onto it would remain luminous,” with the windows elevated.
“The walls became particularly thick at ground level where the house was initially conceived as a ribbon window to bring light,” naturehumaine founder Marc-André Plasse told us. “For urban micro development high-density projects, because of the size of the lots as well as the need to use all the available area, resulted in sites in densely populated neighbourhoods having no free space around the houses.”

The code called for inundation buffers, resulting in the need to build the house closer to the road, with many layers of materials on the exterior elevations.

“There are systems around the entire perimeter of the house that capture and reroute rain water,” Plasse said.

Masonry Walls Staying Lean Without the Use of Conventional Trim
Staggered fenestration allows the walls to stay lean “without adding all of the conventional trim elements inside the wall,” he added. Horizontal bands of glazing also add “dynamism” to otherwise heavy masonry walls by dissolving into the concrete.

Living spaces permeate the main floor, lending it a sleek, clutter-free appearance with an emphasis on openness.
The long dining table sits between a rectangular kitchen and an outdoor terrace. A functional outdoor cooking area is found here, relating to the kitchen inside with both spaces oriented towards the sunset, separated by brick walls.
“From the interior of the house, when looking at the lake, the perception is the same,” he said, adding that the glazing “floats” above the water.

On the inside, the house is treated with natural materials, including copper-framed windows, wood veneer for the walls and fabric accents. To break away from white, common in contemporary architecture, stained wood panelling was used for the ceilings, “infusing a calm atmosphere into the interiors”, Plasse said.
A large fireplace separates the living room from the main bedroom, which has a glass corner window facing Mount Orford.
“The quality of a material is determined by how tactfully it is integrated into an interior,” Plasse said. “It’s important to a degree of value in the way it is outfitted.”
Wood furnishings that can be changed out also make up the interior of the house. Earth-toned furniture, lighting and artwork match the heavy brick walls outside. Outdoor material is echoed inside, particularly taupe tones.
“It adds a more crafted dimension,” Plasse explained. “We believe the timelessness, which is also the mandate from our client, comes from the mixture of noble materials – a balance.”
“It creates a whole ecosystem that makes for beautiful work.”






Photography by Raphaël Thibodeau
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