What happens when clients challenge you to rethink everything? You get Ottawa's first residential Cross Laminated Timber home — a 2024 Housing Design Award winner that treats sustainability not as a feature, but as a foundation.
5,485sq ft including basement
200+year design lifespan
3protected trees preserved
Located in Champlain Park, the Northwestern CLT House was shaped — literally — by three majestic trees on site: two bur oaks and a sugar maple. Rather than work around them, the design was sculpted to them. A 12-foot protection radius around the front oak. Hydro-vacuumed roots wrapped in burlap. The rear of the home raised on piers to avoid root damage. Every decision was made with the same question: can we make it better? Can we make it last longer?
"Construction is a very wasteful, resource-intensive and environment-damaging activity. Our goal was to partially offset this negative impact by building something that lasts a very long time."— Homeowner, Northwestern CLT House
Why CLT?
Cross Laminated Timber is an engineered wood product that captures carbon, insulates beautifully, and performs structurally as an alternative to concrete. In this home, CLT wasn't just a structural choice — it became the soul of the interior. Exposed panels line the walls. The staircase spine reveals it as the home's central connective element, running from basement to rooftop patio overlooking the Ottawa River.
Triple-paned windows, a heat pump, extra insulation, and locally sourced Canadian materials round out a home that is as honest in its construction as it is beautiful in its design. The result? A space so quiet that, as builder Antonio Sanchez of Sanchez Homes put it, "you could have a truck go by and it's so quiet."
The project was recognized at the 2024 Ottawa Housing Design Awards — winning in the custom home category, with additional finalist recognition for the exterior and kitchen. It has now received a full editorial feature, and we couldn't be more proud of what this collaboration produced.
The Northwestern CLT House was designed by Linebox Studio architect Josée Anne Pronovost, built by Sanchez Homes, and engineered by Bautechnik and Moses Structural Engineering.
Read the full All Things Home article by Patrick Langston.