Remarkable Structures

12/16/2025

"Father, I am but skin and bones."

~Jack

01/07/2025

Hello Friends,

Well, it's been a minute since We posted anything. But, there has been work going on. Attached here is a project we've just sent out to permit.

It's a full custom private home, nestled on a slightly graded and wooded lot, here in Muskoka. The focus of the design is a lightness of structure and it's interaction with the surrounding environment, within a somewhat restricted footprint.

In order to open the main living spaces, both literally and emotionally, to the surrounding forest, We've created what I've started referring to as an 'inverted building plan'. (This probably isn't a new thing, but I do like the sound of it.) Where the main living space is at an upper level, lifted above the grade, accessed by a voluminous entry, which finally opens into a room full of light and the views to the surrounding landscape. While bedrooms and service areas are relegated, primarily, to the lower level. Their function being more the reflected dictates of pure need, than the emotive and spiritual requirements of the main living spaces. The exception, in this inverted plan, being the main bedroom suite. Which situated companionless on the upper level, answers to the home owners specific request that it be a private enclave, with it's own flow and rhythm, separate from the remainder of the home, as much as function..... and the rules of physics..... permitted.

The main level is the heart of this space. The living/dining/kitchen areas ARE more classically subdivided, each with their own language, all tied to the forest outside: From the bright cathedral like space of the living room, with wood burning fireplace, soaring ceilings and walls of art and glass. To an elegant and formal dining space. To a crucially functional kitchen, designed to the demanding specifications of a owner/home-chef. Finally, a large interior/exterior screened porch, where site, sound and scent of the land couples seamlessly (and bug free) with a comfortable and spacious living/entertaining space. All tied together by a corridor designed as a journey, filled with the books, nick-nacks and reminders of travel and a life lived on walls filled with built in shelves and cabinets.

The homeowners love of privacy, and despise of disorder, is reflected throughout the design. From decisions surrounding layout and room locations, to the prolific use of built in furniture, and storage that doubles as secret doors to less than desirable or private areas.

Today's post is a few snapshots of the plans and a couple of, decidedly crude modelled, exteriors. There will be more on this project as it moves forward.

If it hasn't been made clear in some of the descriptions here above, We've been contracted to take care of the interiors, as well. So as those designs unfold, and we get a better handle on our new modelling software, an incredibly humbling experience, I must say. Anyway, We'll post more as we get/create them.

If you're interested in talking to us more about what We can do for you, please feel free to reach out to us. I do ask, that if you call, you leave a message and we'll call back ASAP (7O5-783-288I). Alternately you can follow us here on Mother Facebook, and reach out through Messenger or the handy dandy email interface.

Thanks for your time and interest.

Regards,
Remarkable Structures

10/30/2024

So, I came across a news article (screenshot) elsewhere and wanted to check the validity of things. This link below is relatively recent and maybe we're looking at "the way of the future". I myself have been involved in retrofitting single unit dwellings to house multiple owners in stand alone suites, coupled to common kitchen, dining and living rooms. I also know that Japan has "pod" style hotels, due to the exorbitant cost of land in the major cities. I'm personally undecided as to whether I'm for or against this style of housing. I'm also the first to admit that I can't determine if my feelings against it are anything more than a cultural bias... Like my NA sense of personal space... What are others thoughts?

After over a year, San Francisco finally approved the startup's tiny sleeping pods to be leased out by renters. Here's a look inside: https://abc7ne.ws/40mQa...

01/13/2022

Gah!!! Hopefully my team will have the new logo to me sooner than later, and you'll have sparkly, marketing iconography to look at, as opposed to my mug, every time you see my posts. Stay tuned!

01/12/2022

So I've been on the downlow the last little while. The reality is that I've been working towards a complete rebrand, in an effort to separate myself from the pack; no easy feat. Today, I had a conversation with the marketing company I've brought on board to assist me in this. Though a tricky conversation and a hard pill to swallow; they made me realize/recognize that I've got an opportunity to reinvent/redirect my efforts in a way that would be a shame to miss. So in with both feet, as they say. I'll be launching 'Remarkable Structures' under my marketing teams careful tutelage, in the coming weeks/months. Hopefully this reinvention will present who I am as a designer to those that are interested; in a way only those that have been forced to get to know me have figured out.... We'll see how that plays out. In the mean time please see attached a piece of hairy cheese, that I hope makes you as uncomfortable as this transition is making me.

08/23/2021

Hello Again, Scott William Petrie back again with a few finished photos of the final project. Not the progress photos I had hoped for, but scheduling and geography wound up working against me. Regardless, the project came to fruition and the client and I are tickled pink with the results. A clean modern home that bridges the traditional and contemporary. A place for the story to continue this generation and hopefully into the next.

Hello, Scott William Petrie here with the latest design to come down the pipe. No finished photos today, just a snap shot of our existing project home and the concept elevation. Construction is scheduled to start in the next few weeks and I'll get progress photos as I can. This is to be another in a long line of renovations, taken on by this growing family of 3, with one on the way. The owners loved the neighbourhood, as it was full of 2 lifetimes of memories. Both clients had grown up in the area an our project home had been grandma's house. It was imperative that we honoured those memories, as we gave this family the space they needed to create their own. It's all about the stories. The clients were looking for a contemporary home, but wanted something that would remain timeless. A transitional design was what was called for, clean and bold details, that tips the hat to those traditional built elements, we all hold so close to our hearts. Our project is a full second storey addition with minimal interior changes to either of the existing floors. We wanted, as mentioned before, to maintain some of the original character of the existing home. Existing brick was to remain, as were the original window openings and porch structure. The clients needed these left. It's all about the story's for the next generation. The second storey though, is to be of clean white stucco, outlined with bold black lines at facia and windows. The only interruptions on the elevation are to be the phantoms of those traditional elements of Victorian lintels, paneling and attic louvres. The stonework is to be replaced/clad in a dark grey, dry-stack, ledge rock and the railing finished in tempered glass, all to help punch up that contemporary vibe. The last element will be a simple black door "Something grandma would have liked" a far cry from the ultra contemporary unit we had previously discussed. But, as a nod to a much loved, now departed, family matriarch, it seemed a worthy compromise for home owners and designer alike. I'll keep you posted on the progress. Cheers!