As for the boathouse, “The township your property is in determines which design guidelines you need to work within,” he advises.
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ext, he needs to know which set of by-laws apply to the property. Every township has its own official plan and accompanying by-laws governing parameters such as required setbacks from the shoreline, lot coverage (the size of the cottage/boathouse you can build), building heights etc. For instance, in Muskoka Lakes, you’re allowed 10 percent of lot coverage for waterfront residential lots within the 200-foot boundary of the shoreline. Beyond that, if your lot is deeper, you can cover 10 percent of your entire property.
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This rule considers not just the cottage itself but all building structures, such as a separate garage and/or bunkie, so it’s important to know where these will be situated on the property in order to achieve the client’s development needs. This is what the firm calls master planning. “If your property is around two acres, for instance, you’ll probably be able to build a sizable, two-storey boathouse and a 6,000-square-foot cottage,” he says. “Obviously every property has its anomalies, but in my experience this is normal.”
His firm practices primarily in Bracebridge, Gravenhurst, Huntsville, Lake of Bays, Muskoka Lakes, Parry Sound and Seguin. “I like working in some townships more than others, because their by-laws allow the designer to have more creativity, whereas other townships, without stating it, force the designer into a certain style of architecture. “In Muskoka Lakes, you can design whatever style of boathouse you want as long as it’s under 25 feet high. But Seguin Township has two height limits. One keeps your roof eave at a certain height; the other limits the average height between the ridge and the eave, which pushes everything into a gable or tall, hipped-roof form, which is limiting to our creativity.” After the master planning exercise is complete, he’ll ask for a desiredrooms list, which launches the schematic design phase, where he’ll explore various floor plans. “We think about usability and how the client lives day to day. Where are the social, service and private spaces and how do we tie them together or separate them eloquently? If there’s a party going on and someone wants to go to bed, they should be able to do that and not be woken up.