Cape Smokey

Year2020

CategoryUrbanism

LocationNova Scotia, Canada

StatusIn progress

In the heart of the Cape Breton Highlands nature park on Canada’s east coast, a year-round tourist destination is taking shape to our design. It builds on the original Cape Smokey ski area and develops its potential far beyond the winter season.

Our studio is creating a long-term urban and architectural concept for the entire site – from the masterplan and the structure of individual development phases to the relationship of new development to the landscape, the coast and existing infrastructure. The urban concept links the mountain environment with the Atlantic coast and is built on an exceptional relationship between nature, recreation and new construction. The vision includes a hotel, a harbour with a pier, a restaurant, wellness facilities, sports and recreational trails, a treetop walk, a cable car, as well as new forms of housing and facilities for permanent residence.

The loose structure of the development responds sensitively to the terrain, views and character of the landscape, which remains the principal bearer of the entire resort’s identity. The current phase follows on from the 2023 masterplan and focuses mainly on the Highlands area, where new opportunities for housing, skiing and other year-round activities are concentrated.

The project creates a long-term framework for transforming Cape Smokey into a lively place for visitors and local residents alike, while uniting the mountain environment and the ocean into a single functional and landscape whole.

Client	Cape Smokey Holding
Design team	Martin Krupauer Pavel Kvintus Martin Sedmák Andrej Kacera Petr Jakšík Mária Adriána Lavková Marina Slavinskaia Anastasiia Ihnatkova
Landscape design	Anna Salingerová

Masterplan and Development of the Highlands

The entire project is conceived as a long-term vision for the development of the region. It will offer room for up to 3,500 permanent residents and over the coming decade is set to naturally broaden the opportunities for living in and visiting this part of Canada.

The current phase follows on from our 2023 masterplan and shifts the focus from the coastal part of the site towards the Highlands. It is here that space is being created for new housing, skiing and other activities that extend the resort’s operation throughout the year. The development of the Highlands complements the coastal part of the site and unites the mountain environment with the Atlantic coast into a single whole.

Landscape as the Basis of the Design

The study develops Ski Cape Smokey in Nova Scotia as a year-round destination based on the exceptional relationship between the mountain landscape and the Atlantic. The design treats the landscape as the principal bearer of the place’s identity and seeks a balance between new construction, recreation and the natural character of the site.

The underlying principle is a loose structure of development, sensitive placement within the terrain and a strong relationship with the landscape. The individual parts of the resort are linked by views, topographical connections and a network of activities.

Treetop Walk

The resort also includes a treetop walk whose architectural motif refers to the Mi’kmaq, the Indigenous people who for centuries have been bound to the area of present-day Nova Scotia and the Canadian Maritimes.

Its form is derived from traditional Mi’kmaq basketry, and its structure recalls a woven basket. It thus brings to the design a further layer of identity rooted in the cultural context of the place.

The Cube

One of the iconic features of the site will be The Cube restaurant, set within a dramatic natural landscape. The striking cube-shaped building is embedded in the hillside, and its precise geometry contrasts with the soft line of the surrounding forests and the lake landscape.

Glazed surfaces, photovoltaic panels and a slightly translucent sheet-metal envelope play with light, reflections and mirroring, echoing the ever-changing surface of the water and the atmosphere of the surrounding landscape.