LAGOIS / ARCHITECTURAL STUDIES / 01
The Common
A personal study in family life.
A place to belong.
DESIGN AUTHORSHIP
Jacob Kirst / Lagois
ORIGINAL SETTING
Westport, Ontario
TYPOLOGY
Private residence
STATUS
Unbuilt architectural study
01 / THE BEGINNING
It began with my own family.
Designing for my own family brought me back to a question: how could our home bring us together while giving each of us room to be ourselves?
The Common is my response. A home organized around a shared hearth, with private pavilions and gardens between them. Its architecture gives our family places to gather and room for independence as our lives evolve.
That balance shapes the whole study. Cooking, conversation and time with friends belong at the centre. Rest, concentration and the quieter moments of a day deserve spaces of their own. The design holds these needs together through a sequence of distinct rooms, connections and outdoor spaces.
Jacob Kirst
Design author
President & Owner, Lagois
The Common / Pavilion composition
Concept illustration
02 / THE ARCHITECTURAL IDEA
Together, with room to retreat.
A small collection of connected pavilions gives each part of family life its own place.
Distinct volumes establish an intimate scale and separate shared living from private retreat. The gathering pavilion forms the social centre; the children's and primary pavilions provide a measure of independence within the same home.
Lower glass connections preserve each volume's identity. They let the eye move beyond the interior to planting, stone and changing light. Gardens occupy the spaces between, bringing the landscape into the composition rather than leaving it at the perimeter.
The result is a home read in moments: a gable, a garden, a glimpse of the hearth. Its character comes from the relationship between those elements.
01
Gather
A shared centre for daily life.
02
Connect
Passages that engage the garden.
03
Retreat
Privacy within a connected home.
03 / ARRIVAL & BELONGING
A sense of history.
A gradual reveal.
Stone garage gables establish an imagined architectural history. Timber and glass extend that story with a contemporary language. The contrast between solid masonry and lighter connections gives the approach a sense of permanence.
Overlapping pavilions and planting choreograph the arrival. The courtyard mediates between the street and the private life of the home, revealing glimpses through glass while holding the full composition in reserve.
The home unfolds as it is approached. Shelter, planting and framed views make arriving part of the experience of belonging.
04 / THE HEART OF THE HOME
Our common ground.
The hearth anchors the gathering pavilion and gives The Common its name.
Exposed timber defines the room's volume; stone establishes its centre. The kitchen and living spaces share this generous room, allowing the routines of preparing a meal, gathering around the fire and spending time together to overlap naturally.
The architecture gives everyday life a clear centre. A place for our family to reconnect, and for friends to feel part of the home.
Everyday life, together / Concept rendering
05 / MATERIALS & DAILY RITUALS
Warmth in the everyday.
The kitchen places cooking and conversation within one shared space. The island connects preparation with nearby seating, while continuous timber surfaces give the room a quiet cohesion.
Views beyond the windows extend the experience of the room. Daylight, trees and the changing seasons become a backdrop to the ordinary rituals that make a house a home.
Throughout the study, stone, timber and glass carry distinct roles: weight and shelter, warmth and touch, openness and connection. Their repetition brings coherence to the home without erasing the character of each space.
06 / THE SPACES BETWEEN
Connection becomes an experience.
The links between pavilions are inhabited spaces. Transparent passages hold views of the garden; glass-backed display cabinets become lanterns after dark.
These transitions give movement through the home a slower rhythm. Landscape, artwork, and collected objects become part of daily life, giving the spaces between rooms a purpose of their own.
07 / PRIVATE LIFE
A quieter rhythm.
Private sleeping pavilions balance the openness of the gathering spaces. Lower connections mark the transition to retreat, while vaulted ceilings and warm materials give the rooms their own character.
Closeness and independence coexist within one home. Time alone belongs here as naturally as time together.
08 / A PERSONAL STORY. A WIDER CONVERSATION.
What does belonging look like for you?
The Common began with one family in Westport. The questions it explores belong to many homes.
For a homeowner in Ottawa, those questions might begin with a more private garden, a kitchen that brings everyone together, or a quiet retreat within a busy household. Each family, site and neighbourhood calls for its own response.
The Common offers a way of thinking about home: begin with the life it needs to hold, then give that life architectural form. Its specific composition belongs to this study; it's attention to gathering, privacy and connection can inform a much wider conversation.
EXPLORE THE STUDY
A closer look.
LAGOIS / PERFECTING THE ART OF LIVING®
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