Living Lounge

A spacious luxury home nestled in wooded greenery with all the perks of a boutique hotel

Nestled along the Assiniboine River in Winnipeg (Western Canada) lays a spacious luxury home nestled in wooded greenery with all the perks of a boutique hotel. A lunge at functional minimalism that the Secter Architecture+Design studio always favours in its projects. The layout of the residence is developed on the ground floor with a large open living area surrounded by large windows, together with a kitchen and peninsula area, strategically positioned to capture natural light in the evening hours. In perfect indoor-outdoor continuity, the rooms open onto an outdoor patio that also includes a sauna and a fully equipped kitchen overlooking the river. The lines are sharp and clean and, without giving in to the praise of design innovation, the project designers do not renounce a certain sophistication in their choice of furnishing materials; a choice that is evident in the open living and kitchen area: we are talking about “Living Lounge”, winner of the Sub Zero and Wolf Kitchen Design Contest Award – Western Canada.

Organised every two years for the past 25 years, the Sub-Zero, Wolf and Cove Kitchen Design Contest celebrates the international design community by rewarding the design of exceptional, innovative kitchens that are special in their choice of materials and organisation of space. The KDC is free of charge and open to professionals from all over the world who wish to submit one or more projects (carried out in the previous two years) that involve the use of refrigeration and cooking products from Sub-Zero and Wolf, the companies sponsoring the contest. The design studio can nominate its kitchen project, choosing the relevant style category from the three available: contemporary (with rigid architectural forms, clean lines and neutral palettes); traditional (with neoclassical geometries, through the colour palette inspired by the natural wood of colonial aesthetics, to the flowery patterns and pastel shades of French country decoration); and transitional (merging aesthetic and colour elements of the previous ones).

Location Manitoba, Canada
Year 2021
Architect Secter Architecture + Design
Applications Furnishing & Design
Project Type Private House

A colour palette that ranges from taupe, to grey

The kitchen is made of Laminam Pietra Grey Naturale, chosen in the large 1620 x 3240 size with a Laminam 12 thickness for the top, backsplash, counter and cupboard shelves. Inspired by the grey calcite marble variety of the same name, the homogeneous background of the slab from the I Naturali collection is reminiscent of shades of coal and graphite. The delicate slate-coloured veining of Pietra Grey contributes to the search for an aesthetic continuum, and the versatility of the slab allows for a meticulous definition of the spaces: the kitchen includes a bar area created with Laminam shelves set in a specially created concealed space behind ultra-modern aluminium doors. The discovery of space and custom design continue in the practical spice cupboard, concealed by sliding doors in Laminam – where Pietra Grey is also used for the worktop and cooking area. If a linear and practical layout prevails in the kitchen – the hallmark of the technical performance of Laminam surfaces in food processing – the lounge room takes us back to the soft and conciliatory atmospheres of home intimacy, thanks to the half-light of the trees that permeates the room.

Architects Lloyd and Dovide Secter, father and son at the head of Secter Architecture+Design studio, worked four-handedly on the project, translating a living concept that is as simple as it is successful into the rooms. Simple, because it follows a minimalist topic of no boundary walls, large windows, a few select pieces of furniture and a colour palette that ranges from taupe, to grey, to the legno bruno of legno naturale, with hints of bianco perla. Winning, because it enhances aesthetics and design “out of the box” that invites the discovery of spaces.

Chosen from 1,700 applicants from 15 countries, the panel of jurors – consisting of architects, kitchen designers, interior designers – chose “Living Lounge” from 29 finalists attributing the first award for Western Canada.