Bruno & Michele by Atelier II I7
Bruno & Michele unfolds as a mountainside Atelier II I7 residence in Bolton-ouest, Canada, created by House for a steep, forested lot. The project sets a compact family home against the Sutton mountain profile, drawing wide horizons into the rooms while holding a disciplined, contemporary character. Inside, wood, glass, and calm volumes turn the seasonal landscape into the daily backdrop.
Low sun slips across polished flooring as tree trunks frame the glass corners and distant peaks cut a steady line on the horizon. Inside, quiet materials keep the eye on the orange and rust canopy beyond.
This is a single-family house in Bolton-ouest, Canada, drawn by House on a sharply sloped, wooded site. The project divides into two distinct volumes linked by a vertical stair, an answer to the escarped terrain rather than a gesture imposed on it. Everyday life arranges itself around the Sutton mountain panorama, with living areas elevated into the treetops and more grounded rooms stepped down into the hillside.
Splitting The Volume
The building rests on a large, steep lot, so the structure breaks into an upper bar and a lower garden level connected by circulation. This move keeps the profile measured from the approach while allowing the house to sit partly on an existing cleared plateau, avoiding new cuts in the forested slope. The lower level tucks into the ground, which tempers exposure and lets the upper volume read as a lighter element sliding across the terrain.
Living Among Trees
The main volume lands high on the natural plateau, so the living room and kitchen sit almost level with the tree canopy. Full-height glazing wraps the corners, turning the Sutton relief into a continuous band of sky and mountains that holds the room. A projecting portion cantilevers toward the view, and a broad opening here stretches wall to wall so the family eats, reads, and sits with branches and distant ridges at eye level.
Interior Warmth And Order
Inside, a wood-lined ceiling lays a quiet grid over the open living areas, echoing the vertical trunks outside with its regular joints and warm tone. Slender black frames at the glass edges recede against the forest, while pale wall panels and polished concrete floors reflect changing daylight deep into the plan. The kitchen concentrates storage and appliances behind a timber screen, and a long island doubles as working surface and gathering spot without blocking the outward view.
Rooms On The Slope
More private rooms settle closer to the hillside, where windows frame shorter views to ferns, trunks, and the immediate ground. A bunk bedroom arranges beds, desk, and shelves in a tight, efficient sequence, giving younger occupants their own outlook across the forest while keeping clutter low. The main bedroom and bath stay pared back, with built-in wardrobes, a simple bed platform, and a long floating vanity catching streaks of light as the sun tracks across the clearing.
Terraces And Outlooks
Outside, terraces slip from the upper bar toward the drop-off, bringing daily life to the edge of the view without overstating the structure. A balcony at the projecting corner sets a small table against the autumn canopy, while lower decks and a pool nestle into the grade for more sheltered gathering. From below, the upper volume reads as a precise box hovering over the vegetation, its large glazing and dark cladding registering the changing seasons rather than dominating them.
By dusk, the house glows gently behind the trees as the mountains turn blue and the forest floor darkens. The two volumes sit quietly on their respective levels, tying family routines to this steep Canadian hillside and its long, shifting horizon.
Photography by Raphael Thibodeau
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