The Eagle’s Nest

The Eagle’s Nest | Quebec, Canada | 2020
[mainstudio architecture]

This bunkhouse was designed to accommodate the young musicians of a music camp in Lanaudière, a region of Quebec in Canada. The bunkhouse, designed to accommodate 30 campers, was built as a replacement for an outdated cottage that was located on the same site and given the same name – The Eagle’s Nest.

The location of this bunkhouse stands out in the overall layout of the camp pavilions. Located on a promontory with impressive mature conifers overlooking a beautiful lake, it is set apart from other facilities. The design of this mountain hut was therefore significantly shaped by the natural environment of the site. It was essential to build gently through the trees to showcase them and to ensure a harmonious cohabitation between this nature and the visitors.

The plan is arranged alongside the lake, optimizing the views over the water. The bulk is structured in two main volumes, the more impressive of the two contains the campers’ rooms, and the other houses the sanitary facilities.

Summer at camp is an immersion in a world away from the adult world, an immersion in a community where, due to their high number, the young people bring their own energy. Therefore, for the architect and the camp administrators, it was essential to offer a shelter that echoes the imagination of childhood. Thus, the simplicity of the building bulk recalls the key principles that characterize the hut intuitively illustrated by the child: a few vertical lines that represent the walls, a triangle representing the roof, and details that suggest doors and windows.

The oversizing roof, a core element that rises from the forest, is also part of the materialization of this playful, almost imaginary world. The sober and monochromatic exterior materiality allows highlighting the form and the singularity of the building’s dimensions. Text description by the architects.