SHOBAC ENOUGH HOUSE - Upper Kingsburg, NS, Canada
How much house is enough in terms of both size and craft? This approximately 700 ft² dwelling is the most recent in a series of affordable, modest houses designed by the firm, exploring the idea of ‘economy as ethic’.
It is a flexible prototype which is intended to be replicated and customized to specific sites. Its inherent ‘DNA’ allows this one bedroom house to easily grow into a two bedroom, 1,000 ft² family house. It is proto-urban, as it implies aggregation to make urban fabric. Its material expression can be adapted to other cultural contexts. It is rational in its structure and modular in its components. It is a small building which can have a big impact.
The Enough House sleeps 5 with two queen beds in the upstairs bedroom and a single bed on the downstairs plinth. A small courtyard on the south face is great for basking in the morning rays and the larger courtyard on the north face is just the spot to enjoy the breathtaking sunsets or snuggle up beside the open fire pit. A full bathroom is situated upstairs and a well-equipped kitchen with European appliances (including a dishwasher) is located on the ground floor. Interior steel elements connect with the exterior cladding to create a seamless inside-out transition and the furnishings are an eclectic mix of new and old to reflect the modern and traditional dual personality of the Enough House.
In addition to the Enough House, the Shobac Campus also features four Cottages, Point House and Schoolhouse as accommodation options. The Studio and the historic octagonal Barn can be rented for events, and are ideal for arts workshops, weddings, equestrian vacations, family reunions, or corporate retreats. The entire site can also be rented offering the solitude of "a lost village at the end of the earth.’”
Source: MacKay-Lyons Sweetapple Architects
Awards
2022 AIA Small Project Award
2016 Architect Magazine, Residential Architect Design Awards, Citation
2016 Interior Design Best of Year Award, Honoree, Budget Category
2016 Azure Magazine, AZ Award Finalist
2016 Nova Scotia Lieutenant Governor’s Citation
