Frozen-fingered architect erects house on stilts

JOHN THOMPSON

Home renovation isn’t easy at -40 C.

Just ask Richard Carbonnier of Pond Inlet, who is still working on an odd building that looks like three enormous tin cans welded together and still lacks a heating system.

Carbonnier has been single-handedly building his home since last summer, following a design he first dreamed up while pursuing an architecture degree in Montreal in the early 1990s.

He says the building’s curvy design reminds Inuit of an igloo. But Pond Inlet’s mayor, David Qamaniq, said when he first saw the building, it looked more like the launching pad for a space shuttle.

Carbonnier insists the building isn’t science fiction, and that when it’s complete, it will serve as a two-bedroom, 1,100 square foot home, which Carbonnier calls Inuksuk Residence – a name he feels is appropriate, as the building stands like a landmark on the hillside.

The siding is now on the house, and Carbonnier spends hours each week installing insulation inside the building’s shell. He’s designed the building so that insulation is held in air-tight pockets to stop air circulation from diminishing the building’s ability to stay warm.

But it’s cold work. He says his fingertips are a little frostbitten, and he’s seen the electrical cords of his power tools snap in the cold “like a piece of spaghetti.”

So as he stores his tools, he always lays the cords on the floor, straightened.

A small, gas-powered heater offers some heat, raising the temperature “from -40 to -20,” Carbonnier says.

Still, he bundles up before heading out to work on his home.

The building is designed to be environmentally friendly, and easy on the tundra. It stands on three legs, built from metal that Carbonnier retrieved from “Canadian Tire.” That’s what Pond Inlet residents call their dump.

The tripod legs rest on three floating footings – foundations that don’t extend below the frost line.

Carbonnier says the tripod design costs a fraction of the cost of setting metal piles into the tundra. And if the building begins to tilt because of melting permafrost – a problem already encountered in the Nunavik community of Salluit – all he would have to do is stick a jack beneath one leg and prop it back up, he says.

The tripod legs also prevent snowdrifts from accumulating against the building – the building is raised high enough so that any snow blows underneath.

The next step will be to install a wooden pellet stove to heat the building. Carbonnier also plans to use recycled “grey water” from the shower and sinks, for use in the toilet.

He hopes to have the house “roughed in” by April. Finishings for the walls and floor won’t arrive until the summer sealift.

When the building’s done, the kitchen in the centre will be lit by a large skylight, and the living room will feature a balcony with a view of Bylot Island.

Materials cost about $60,000. Carbonnier estimates a contractor could build a similar model for about $210,000.