Reviews of Abbott Brown Architects (Architect)

Matthew Fraser

When we retired form the federal public service, we decided to move to small town Nova Scotia (my home province) and build from scratch after years of renovating homes in Ottawa. Visiting Lunenburg, we saw that among the fine 18th century homes of Old Town could also be found a brand new cape style home clad in cedar shakes that somehow fit in to the UNESCO zone despite being of recent vintage. Now we were scouting empty lots instead of older houses. Only a block away from the cape cottage we found a large lot facing north near the top of a slope with a potential view of the Back Harbour. We started working with Alec and Jane (Brown & Abbott, respectively) by e-mail and Skype and then met regularly with them in their Halifax office once we had moved to rented quarters in Lunenburg. We loved the look of the cape house he had designed, but had our own ideas for the interior where we wanted an integrated, open plan with lots of light, but no dormers. Skylights are frowned upon by the UNESCO requirements, but AbbottBrown came up with a brilliant way to hide the skylights while giving the interior of the home a flood of light worthy of a cathedral. During construction, there were a lot of questions about that 'box on the roof' - was it an infinity pool? a helicopter pad? - but the final look, while innovative, was beautifully integral to the cedar shake cape house design. To fit in to the Old Town, there had to be at least a reminder of the famous Lunenburg 'bump' (a style of street-facing dormer), so a tall from window casement over the door provides a notional 'bump' and even more light for the master bedroom, as well as the view towards First Peninsula over the Back Harbour. Throughout this very collaborative process of design-build AbbottBrown worked closely with us on ideas and provided the expertise we lacked to see how it could actually be done. Originally to be built on a cement pad, we made a last minute change to a full basement. It all fit together nicely in the end thanks to the builder's skill (d'Risser's a local firm) and AbbottBrown's flexible design capability. This is a firm that listens to clients and works together with them, with imagination and design discipline, to produce a superb final product.

Byron Rogers

Jane and Alec helped us achieve our vision of having a cottage that would "bring the outside in." We feel like we are literally living in nature! The proportions of the rooms are perfect and the design is just beautiful. We love the way the light comes through our many windows at different times of the day and at different angles - and how the varying ceiling heights give it such a cozy, yet open feel. And then there are all the little finishes that make it feel so modern and clean lined. Jane and Alec pushed us when we needed to be pushed, but also listened to what was important to us. And the result is spectacular!