A developer snaps up 507 hectares of virgin land to build 75 houses cut off from the world

Beside Media has just announced the launch of a scheme of 75 houses designed for disconnecting from the world. They will sit within a vast natural site, equivalent to one and a half Central Parks!

The concept: a living environment in the heart of nature

Beside Cabins, the subsidiary in charge of the project, has acquired a 507-hectare site in Chertsey, a town of 5,000 inhabitants north of Montréal in Canada. Of these 507 hectares, 364 will be left in their natural state. The remaining 143 hectares, however, will be developed to accommodate the 75 houses, a ratio of one house for every two hectares! To be precise, the private plots for the dwellings will range from 0.8 to 2 hectares. The project also includes two lakes.

This low density makes sense, since it is the very essence of the project: offering a home in the middle of the forest. The Beside Cabins concept is aimed at families but also at professionals, and its promoters want to provide a setting for disconnecting.

‘BESIDE Cabins is a haven of peace, far from noise, crowds, traffic and the distractions of daily life,’ explains Jean-Daniel Petit, president of Beside. ‘A perfect place to bring together friends, colleagues, partners and family, to unwind and build meaningful connections.’

Besides the 75 houses, the project includes the construction of several facilities, such as a music studio, a natural stage for canoe concerts, a creative space and a library.

On the architectural side, the houses will be built according to sustainable design principles. The architects in charge of the project are Appareil Architecture, a young nine-person practice founded by the Canadian architect Kim Pariseau, which has already won several awards. The practice has completed a number of high-quality houses that demonstrate a genuine commitment to sustainability.

A developer, not a media company

What strikes us, however, is the developer behind the project, which identifies itself not as a property developer but as a media brand. Beside Media is a company founded in 2016 that publishes a magazine twice a year. It also runs events and experiences, and it is within this framework that the project is being carried out, with the aim of offering new experiences.

Image coming soon

The media side of the business therefore appears relatively small compared with its secondary activity of property development. Or is the media simply a way of fulfilling the developer’s marketing role?

Should we welcome this project or be alarmed by it?

The idea of bringing nature into architecture is entirely commendable. In France, many projects bring nature into the built environment; the lycée in Liffré, near Rennes, is a perfect example.

In this project, though, isn’t it the reverse? Isn’t it rather man who is entering nature? At a time when the French government is working to curb peri-urban sprawl and to structure a timber industry that suffers from highly fragmented forest ownership, such a project raises questions. Will Beside, whose magazine is also distributed in France, undertake a similar project here? It would certainly be difficult, given French culture and our attachment to heritage, whether mineral or vegetal. The generosity of the donations following the fire at Notre-Dame de Paris cathedral is a perfect illustration.