Contemporary in the Capital

At the end of the 1970s and in to the early 1980s a limited number of small enclaves with contemporary-style houses were built in Ottawa. These houses are characterized by dramatic angular roof lines, vaulted ceilings, sunken rooms, large windows and wood accents on the facades. Some of these were even designed as solar houses.

Below is a sampling of some of the plans in these enclaves from this time. Although they were built after the mid-century modern period, the layouts and design details are a continuation of the key thinking in architecture from that time period.

The first series of plans were built by Urbandale Construction in Riverside Park/Mooney's Bay and the Amberwood area of Stittsville. They also offered the designs for sale in Rothwell Heights, although it does not appear that any were actually built there. Some of these designs have large windows to capture solar energy from the sun.

There are a few version of the "Two" plan:

There are a few versions of the "Four" plan as well:

I do not have the elevation drawing for the "Ten" plan:

The next group of plans were built on Quesnel Drive, just off of Riverside Drive in the Revelstoke/Mooney's Bay area.

A company called Ecodomus offered the following designs in the Amberwood area of Stittsville. One of the price sheets I have also mentions a site in Barrhaven, although I do not know where it is.

I always wondered why the popularity of solar houses waned...

Comments

Stefan DubowskiSeptember 9, 2014 at 9:26 PM
Fantastic! Wouldn't leave our neighbourhood any time soon (Riverview Park) but some of these designs are tempting - if one of them came on the market, I don't know...
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