Designing homes that breathe

By JACOB KIRST

This award-winning project by Lagois, Tranquility on the River, connects to the beauty of the outdoors.

When I walk into a home, it’s not the furniture I notice first or the pictures on the walls.

I immediately react to the way the home links to its outdoor surroundings. How does it make me feel? Does it connect with the light, with the views from its windows? Does it celebrate the day? Does it invite the outdoors in?

I believe a home should never feel like a box sealed off from the world. It should breathe and live and be in concert with its environment. It’s such a waste when a home is like a hermit, deep inside itself with no connection with anything beyond its walls.

It’s this belief that is at the heart of my design philosophy. I am determined to create seamless relationships between indoors and outdoors.

Your emotions matter

Homes are so much more than just structures. A building is a structure. A house is a structure. But a home? It’s the setting for your life. It determines your emotions, your way of living. When there is little boundary between inside and out, beautiful spaces emerge, spaces that celebrate the light.

Large windows, skylights, sun tunnels and thoughtful placement of openings are some of the ways to flood a home with daylight. They reduce reliance on artificial light. They create healthier, happier living environments.

When you expand livable square footage such as terraces, patios and covered outdoor rooms, they become true extensions of the home. They maximize how you live, entertain, and enjoy every season.

Studies show that our connection to nature reduces stress and improves overall health. It’s one of my primary considerations in design.

Renovation design as a work of art

It’s a bit like framing a beautiful work of art, only in this case it’s framing the view of a garden or forest or waterfront. The view becomes natural living art that changes with every day, every season. It becomes part of you.

At Lagois, our design approach is to integrate outdoor living as early as the first sketch. It’s not an afterthought. It’s part of the DNA of the design.

This means we ask questions such as:

●       Where will the morning light be most inspiring?

●       How will the living room flow into an outdoor dining area?

●       How can a solarium or covered porch make winter feel beautiful, even cozy?

The goal of such design is perfect cohesion, where the transition from indoor to outdoor is natural, intuitive, and beautiful. There are many ways to do this ‒ for example, sliding walls that disappear; materials that flow from inside to outside; layouts that encourage the easy gathering of people with a sense of continuity.

Sanctuary at home

Home should be a place to both retreat and connect. Home should provide a sanctuary at times and a place to breathe and expand at other times. Outdoor kitchens for summer entertaining, fire features for fall evenings, sunrooms that extend spring and summer living give you those options. You can enlarge your lifestyle as well as your home or experience it as a place of quiet reflection.

To me, this is the essence of Perfecting the Art of Living: creating homes that are not restricted by or limited to four walls. These are homes that embrace the environment, extend visual possibilities and elevate how families live every single day.

This is a philosophy that sets Lagois apart. Any good firm can design a beautiful interior. But not many have the vision to design a home that actually harmonizes with its surroundings, creating spaces that feel inspired in every season.

Our team has spent decades mastering the balance between architecture and environment, ensuring that each Lagois home feels deeply connected to its site, to its roots. It doesn’t matter if it’s on a riverfront, in the heart of Ottawa, or nestled in a forest. We design to enhance, not fight against, its natural setting.

If you are considering a renovation or custom home, let’s explore how your project can do more than just transform interiors. Let’s design a home together that breathes, inspires and truly connects you to the world around you.

Jacob Kirst is President and Visionary of Lagois Design∙Build∙Renovate.