Those window coverings are a treated pine from New Zealand \u2013 a natural wood that\u2019s been stained. They\u2019re louvers that are on the outside of the building. It\u2019s one of the few woods that we\u2019ve been able to use that has a really, really low maintenance program on it because it\u2019s \u00a0de-natured. There\u2019s a treatment to it that does something on a cellular level that means it requires a lot less maintenance than, say, a local cedar or fir that requires treatment every few years. It was chosen mainly because of the sustainability. Over the years we\u2019ve gone away from ipe and some of the the tropical woods simply because of they tend to have adverse effects on rainforests and we can\u2019t always trace how they\u2019re harvested. As an organization we found out about a decade and a half ago where some of this wood was coming from and what it was contributing to so we made a policy that we would promote areas that had more accountability and governments that had better regulations on their on the tracking of their exports. We try to buy local wherever possible but it\u2019s not always possible. Canada isn\u2019t a large manufacturer of goods, so we do our best.<\/p>\n
The windows in the main floor are 11 feet tall. There\u2019s a whole corner of a wall that actually opens up. It\u2019s collectively a 15-foot opening. It\u2019s a full corner that opens so we had about 18-inch steel beams in there to support the house. The entire window package is a full European system. It\u2019s custom triple-glazed. That\u2019s our standard \u2013 triple glazing. We don\u2019t do anything less than that. \u00a0It\u2019s a requirement with the energy codes in Calgary. These windows are about R7, which is one of the highest-performing windows available in our market. A locally made one would be closer to R3 or 4, but it\u2019s still relatively low compared to a six-inch wall with batt insulation. That\u2019s an R20 or 24 depending on what you use. \u00a0The louvers are there just to look cool, just for appearance. T<\/span>he HVAC systems can get can get tricky with large windows, but there are good overhangs on the house, which really tends to mitigate the solar gains.<\/p>\n The remainder of the exterior is our ACM panels \u2013 aluminum composite metal. As opposed to just a flat piece of steel, it\u2019s two pieces of aluminum with a composite material in the middle. What that does is it stabilizes it through heat cycles during the day, especially with darker colours. So it\u2019s more like a commercial material that we see on high rises. But it\u2019s more durable and more structurally stable than regular steel, and it\u2019s a bit more versatile from a design standpoint.<\/p>\n The primary bedroom suite is in the middle with the glass. In the main floor, behind the the brick installation, is another room that opens up onto it. It actually it has a chain swing in it so you can sit and watch the river.<\/p>\n The outdoor dining area has an <\/span>entrance from the dining area into the house. There\u2019s an inside corner. The whole corner opens up, so it\u2019s an unsupported corner that we can\u2019t see. But to eliminate a load on the corner of a home is a really complicated engineering detail. The whole wall opens up at a 90-degree angle to itself and the walls are built out so the slider just retracts inside the walls. It was really great to be able to do it. It\u2019s a tough detail to do from a building science perspective with the weather we have here. So it was kind of a fun one. There\u2019s a screen so if you wanted to leave that open so the bugs can\u2019t get in it would roll down. That\u2019s an automatic screen that comes down. Where the black track is, that\u2019s the exterior wall.<\/p>\n![\"-\"](\"https:\/\/www.canadiancontractor.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Maillot-Elbow-Park-High-Res-014-630x420.jpg\")
The homeowner drove the brick and it was really cool. It\u2019s a slim brick. It was imported from Italy and it was a very unique brick that we had never used before. It was a little bit larger than a normal-sized brick. It\u2019s probably only about an inch and a half thick and maybe nine to 11 inches long. So it had really nice dimensions and a really unique texture to it. It\u2019s a full-bed brick with angle iron. We have an air gap behind it to allow for drainage. We always want to make sure there\u2019s a drainage plane behind everything we do, between the sheathing and the finished material on all of our homes. It\u2019s just best practice with respect to envelopes.<\/p>\n![\"-\"](\"https:\/\/www.canadiancontractor.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Maillot-Elbow-Park-High-Res-023-630x420.jpg\")
The main floor south exposure on the river is in the flood plain. So the main floor is elevated substantially above the grade. That\u2019s a requirement for development in this part of town. The architect addressed that by, instead of having just a small set of stairs, they very skillfully and usefully designed these great sitting areas. So as you make your way down to grade just to the right, there\u2019s a screened-in dining area with a barbecue and a fireplace. And then it walks down to a hot tub right behind that umbrella, and then a fire pit area. And then you can go down and it\u2019s clear grass all the way to the to the riverbed.<\/p>\n![\"-\"](\"https:\/\/www.canadiancontractor.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Maillot-Elbow-Park-High-Res-024-630x420.jpg\")
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