In today's episode of the Rewind Design podcast we take a deep dive into sustainable energy solutions for cottage country with special guest Benjamin John, Climate and Energy Programs Manager at the Georgian Bay Biosphere.

Join us as we discuss the importance of energy audits, the impact of building materials, and the role of townships in promoting energy efficiency. Whether you're a homeowner or a cottage enthusiast, this episode is packed with valuable tips and expert advice to help you make informed decisions for a more sustainable lifestyle.

IN THIS WEEK’S EPISODE WE DISCUSS:

• Explore the various types of green energy, from solar to wind power, and discover practical ways to reduce your energy bills.

• Learn about the benefits of switching to LED lighting, installing energy-efficient appliances, and utilizing government energy-saving programs.

• Benjamin shares insights on the latest in cold climate air source heat pumps and the potential of vehicle-to-grid technology.

This immersive episode of the Rewind Design Show is a rich dialogue with dynamic duo Kelly and Robert from the acclaimed architectural firm, AKB Architects. We delve into their architectural interests, personal paths, and outstanding work in cottage property design. Born and raised in different parts of Toronto, they shed some light on their early influences and formative experiences that inspired their architectural pursuits.

Kelly, the Creative Director, shares insightful thoughts about her meticulous approach to design decision making. In contrast, Robert, the Technical Director, enamors listeners with his passion for building structures and finding practical solutions to architectural challenges. The episode also intricately unfolds their personal lives, painting a vivid portrait of their harmonious work partnerships, family life, and sustainable architectural practices.

A remarkable highlight is their work on the Whistling Wind Project, an innovative island property beautifully balanced with the surrounding nature in Pointe du Baril. Despite the challenges, they have created a functional, and luxurious cottage that stands as a testament to their architectural rigor and environmental concern.

In today's episode of the Rewind Design podcast, host Katy McNabb welcomes experts Katrina Krievins and Tianna Burke from the Georgian Bay Biosphere for an intriguing conversation on ecology, conservation, and sustainable living. This compelling episode examines various topics like the impact of certain construction on the environment and the importance of adopting sustainable building practices, shedding light on the organization's initiatives and programs.

IN THIS WEEK’S EPISODE WE DISCUSS:

• 'State of the Bay' report - an effort encapsulating changes in the Eastern Georgian Bay's environment.

• We discuss the need to respect the land and learn about helpful tools such as the Biosphere Habitat Screening Tool and the Life on the Bay Guide that encourage mindful construction practices.

• Balance between respecting natural habitats and developing Georgian Bay properties

On this week’s episode, walk with us through the world of conservation and the role of The Georgian Bay Mnidoo Gamii Biosphere in preserving the Georgian Bay region from invasive species, climate change, and uninformed development impacts. Understand how every action, big or small, influences our environment and biodiversity.

IN THIS WEEK’S EPISODE WE DISCUSS:

• The Biosphere's history, designation by UNESCO and its mission to preserve and enhance the area while ensuring sustainable development.

• The Biosphere's intentional respect and acknowledgment of the Anishinaabeg people, and the efforts made to incorporate their culture and language in various initiatives.

• How the Biosphere aspires to reconnect with the land and culture through land-focused learning

Welcome to a captivating episode of Rewind Design featuring John O'Connor from Basis Design Build, the architect behind one of the most unique cottages in Cottage Country. In this episode, we delve into John's architectural journey, from his initial foray into the industry to his building his Architecture Design aesthetic.

Unpack the mysteries of architectural decisions as John shares invaluable insights into the thought processes and challenges involved in crafting residential spaces. Learn about the crucial role of effective communication and proper coordination in architecture, and the factors that can affect the course of a project.

Explore the intriguing world of cottage design with an emphasis on sustainability. Discover how size, energy conservation, and maintenance costs impact the construction process, and how principles of sustainable living can be creatively integrated into the design of stunning cottages.

Dive deep into 'Project 22', a remarkable example of innovation, comfort, and meaningful contact with nature. John shares the unique design features and architectural decisions that went into creating this exceptional waterfront cottage.

Whether you are a cottage enthusiast, a budding architect, or just fascinated by sustainable design, this is a must-listen episode. Immerse yourself in the remarkable world of architectural brilliance!

Welcome to Episode 8 of Rewind Design Season 2! If you are brand new to this podcast, welcome! My name is Katy McNabb and I am a registered Interior Designer working in Ontario’s Cottage Country. I am on a mission to share sustainable ways of building, promote green energy and document the history of the cottage country.

In this week’s bonus episode, I have a cottage story to share! I had the pleasure of meeting with Julien LeBourdais, his daughter Lisa and his son in law Matthew. As far as his cottage history goes, Julien is a multigenerational cottager spanning back to the late 1800s.

In this emotional episode, we discover how each generation has enjoyed the wonder and solitude of Georgian Bay – through three different locations. He is now known in the community as the local historian, writing articles for the Sans Souci Copperhead association. We love to see his updates pop up online with a snippit from the past! Before his retirement he had an wonderful career as a photojournalist, photographing sports, celebrities and even royalty! He freelanced for the Toronto Star, then the United Press International to the United Press Canada!

IN THIS WEEK’S EPISODE WE DISCUSS:

• What is a Georgian Bay Girl? - Will you pass Lisa’s grandmother’s test?

• An island that was purchased for $25

• Lisa remembers returning retuning to L’Islet island decades later and discovering something her cousin had left hidden in the cottage…

Welcome to Episode 7 of Rewind Design Season 2! If you are brand new to this podcast, welcome! My name is Katy McNabb and I am a registered Interior Designer working in Ontario’s Cottage Country. I am on a mission to share sustainable ways of building, promote green energy and document the history of the cottage country.

In this week’s episode, I had the pleasure of interviewing Scott Mifflin from Sustainable Cottages - www.sustainablecottages.ca

Here is a quick summary of Sustainable Cottages from their website:

Welcome to Sustainable Cottages, your trusted leader in solar pv design and installation. We supply industry leading Solar PV equipment and work with a team of engineers to design a system that meets all of your energy needs no matter how remote your location. We are a turn-key solution for all your Solar pv needs. Sustainable Cottages has provided Georgian Bay, Muskoka, lake of bays and The Kawartha Lakes with the highest quality Off-Grid, Hybrid, and Grid-Tie Solar PV equipment, system design, and installation since 2011

IN THIS WEEK’S EPISODE WE DISCUSS:

• Solar installation on Georgian Bay’s off grid islands

• The different types of solar design + batteries

• How Scott founded Sustainable Cottages + his love of sustainable design

Welcome to Episode 6 of Rewind Design Season 2! If you are brand new to this podcast, welcome! My name is Katy McNabb and I am a registered Interior Designer working in Ontario’s Cottage Country. I am on a mission to share sustainable ways of building, promote green energy and document the history of the cottage country.

In this week’s episode, I had the pleasure of interviewing Jordan Hofstra from Zinco Canada, a Green Roofing Company

Here is a quick summary of Zinco from their website:

For over 50 years, ZinCo has been committed to incorporating nature back into the urban landscape through the manufacturing and supply of the most advanced green roofs available. Green roofs that will work to offset the environmental impact of building structures, cool micro-climates by up to two degrees, capture and manage storm water and alleviate noise pollution for decades to come.

IN THIS WEEK’S EPISODE WE DISCUSS:

• Green rooving systems in Cottage Country, will they withstand the elements?

• What type of planting do you use for green rooves?

• What makes a green roof so sustainable?

• What is a sedum plant?

Welcome to Episode 5 of Rewind Design Season 2! If you are new to this podcast, my name is Katy McNabb and I am a registered Interior Designer working in Ontario’s Cottage Country. I am on a mission to share sustainable ways of building, promote green energy and document the history of the cottage country.

In this week’s episode, I had the pleasure of interviewing Christine Lolley, the visionary co-owner of Solares Architecture, along with her partner Tom Knezic. She takes us behind the scenes of her breathtaking Kahshe Lake Cottage project + reminisces about her century-old Muskoka island cottage project on Lake Joseph. Discover how they are transforming the world of sustainable architecture and cottage design in our interview below.

Here is a quick summary of Solares from their website:

Solares Architecture is a Toronto-based studio specializing in sustainable, low-carbon residential design. Since our founding in 2005, we have earned a reputation as experts in energy efficiency and building science. Fully licensed by the Ontario Association of Architects (OAA), we focus on custom residential new-builds (both single-family and multi-unit) and major renovations across Ontario.

Our complete turnkey process guides you through every stage of creating your custom home, renovation, secondary suite, or multiplex, from the first ideas to the final move-in day. We believe the fundamentals of sustainability are passive solar design, all-electric/low-carbon energy, airtight and ultra-insulated building envelopes, and high-quality construction.

Today we have Vanessa Fong, from VFA Architecture + Design speaking about sustainable cottages + historical restoration. 

Here is a quick summary of VFA from their website:

Principal Architect Vanessa Fong, an Ontario Architect with over a decade of architectural experience at a variety of scales, from interior design to master planning, established VFA in 2014 and assembled a team of energetic creators with a commitment to thoughtful and beautiful design no matter the budget, scale or medium.

As individuals, the team, brings a wide variety of backgrounds and experiences which inform our projects in unique and unexpected ways. What brings us together is a shared passion for great architecture at a human scale – elegant in form and eminently pragmatic.

At the heart of it, we are problem solvers – preferring to work within contexts and situations with challenging constraints that require innovative approaches to arrive at beautiful, practical and finely crafted solutions. (https://www.vf-a.com)

Welcome to Episode 3 of Rewind Design Season 2! If you are new to this podcast, my name is Katy McNabb and I am a registered Interior Designer working in Ontario’s Cottage Country. I am on a mission to share sustainable ways of building, promote green energy and document the history of the cottage country. I have been excitedly waiting to share this episode for many months and am finally releasing it today! This week we have Scott Weir, an Architect, a cottager and a fellow history lover. Scott is a partner with ERA Architects and has been with the firm for over a decade. When I first started this blog, I was referred to Scott by several people in the PAB area - all of which commented on his positive architectural impact on the area, his kindness and his love of Georgian Bay. It was a dream come true to connect with someone so like minded as myself, so I am delighted to share this episode.

• Scott’s journey to becoming a cottager in Pointe Au Baril and his love of the area

• Heritage preservation, highlighting the Ojibway Club in PAB

• Historic Restoration - Scott’s Cabbagetown home in Toronto, and his early 1900’s cottage in PAB

Welcome to Episode 2 of Rewind Design Season 2! I am beyond excited to share this episode with all the cottage lovers out there. I had the opportunity to sit down and speak with David Ballentine, owner of Ballentine Construction, all about cottage design, restoration + his unique approach to building on the Bay. David is a lifelong cottager in Pointe au Baril, and a longtime Parry Sound resident. David appreciates the magic of cottage history and incorporates this nostalgic feeling in his designs and builds.

Ballentine Construction provides renovation, construction and maintenance services throughout Pointe au Baril and Georgian Bay. They are known for their high quality craftsmanship, their client relationships as well as their sympathetic approach to cottage restoration, with David claiming they “save everything” they possibly can to be re-purposed. They can lovingly renovate a generations-old cottage, maintaining its ambience while subtly incorporating modern touches to make it more comfortable, as well as more cost and energy efficient. These are important building practices that respect our history, and also help to protect out environment.

You can find their work at ballentineconstruction.com

On this weeks debut episode of Rewind Design - Season 2 - we have a very highly regarded guest from the Georgian Bay Association (GBA) Rupert Kindersley. He has been the executive director of the GBA for the last 5 years and I had the honor of speaking to him last summer. Born in London England, Rupert was educated at Eton College and the University of Toronto, however he has now officially spent more than half of his life on Georgian Bay - so he’s a honorary local now! I had hoped that the first episode of Season 2 would reflect the core topics that are so vital to season 2 and the GBA was my first thought. The GBA is the biggest connector of all the Georgian Bay associations, representing the best interests of all cottagers + locals. While season 1 focuses on intimate stories of cottage history, season 2 focuses on sustainable design along the shores of Georgian Bay, with an emphasis on protecting the shoreline via green energy, green building methods and the maintenance and preservation of natural landscapes.

Rewind Design is the recipient of the Georgian Bay Land Trust King Family Bursary for 2023! 🍾✨🎉
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While season 1 focuses on intimate stories of cottage history, season 2 will focus on sustainable design along the shores of Georgian Bay, with an emphasis on protecting the shoreline via green energy, green building methods and the maintenance and preservation of natural landscapes.
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With support from the Georgian Bay Land Trust, I will be interviewing a variety of guests for my podcast, including builders, contractors, architects and landscapers, to discuss best practices when building sustainably on Georgian Bay. The purpose of season 2 is to educate Georgian Bay cottagers and locals on the benefits of sustainable design, presented through my podcast and blog in an accessible and easily understood conversational format.

Welcome to Rewind Design, a Cottage History Podcast - dedicated to discovering the stories of Cottage Country in Ontario! I am your host, and local Interior Designer, Katy McNabb.

On this week’s episode, we have Rebecca Hay from Rebecca Hay Designs (www.rebeccahaydesigns.com). Not only is Rebecca an Interior Designer like me, she is also an entrepreneur, a mom, a mentor, a podcast host and a lifelong cottager! In this week's episode, we discuss Rebecca’s journey to becoming a designer, her life experiences that led her to design, and what she loves most about cottage country. We discuss the differences in designing for an urban environment like Toronto, and how we design cottages differently.

Hello and welcome to this weeks episode of Rewind Design - A Cottage History Podcast. On this weeks episode, we have Geoffrey Hayes, a Sales Representative for All Points North in Parry Sound who describes his journey to Cottage Living in Parry Sound / Georgian Bay.

Geoffrey Hayes, a Sales Representative for All Points North in Parry Sound (See link here - https://allpointsnorth.ca/geoffrey-hayes/)

On this weeks episode, we have Rags (Don Ragland) who owns a cottage property on Axford Island on the South Channel of Georgian Bay. How he acquired the island was slightly problematic, extremely lucky and he has a very curious story to how he purchased his property! They have a charming property sitting in a sandy channel he calls “Sand Channel” or his buddies call it the “Raglonian Strait” (haha) between Axford Island and Lent Island on the south channel of Georgian Bay. Rags hails from Dearborn Michigan, the home of Henry Ford, and taught high school English + art so he was able to spend the majority of his summers in cottage country. He originally came to Parry Sound with his parents as a child and would stay at Point Pleasant Resort (before is was exclusively a marina) and they would pay $3/night for accommodation! His property on Axford Island is roughly 1.33 Acres with 210 feet of frontage. They have a magical, I would say even enchanting property tucked in the hemlock tree forest with the original cabin still in place, painted in a bright coca cola red, the same colour from when they purchased it in 1970. 

Meeting Gerry and listening to his life story and his love of cottage country a cherished memory for me. At the time I met with him, he was 91 years old, still making the seasonal trips to his lakefront cottage on Sunny Cove Lake Muskoka from his home in Mississauga. He spoke of he love for golf, his love of his New Years celebrations at the cottage and his home in Etobicoke he loved on the end of a Cul de Sac. To jump into the history of the cottage property, Gerry’s grandfather was from Barrie with Scottish ancestry, and was an engineer for CNR. He bought the original farmhouse on Sunny Cove in 1932 on Lake Muskoka without his wife’s permission (Gerry winked when he told me this). He had been on the same cottage property since 1932, and this year was his 90th year, Gerry being the third generation cottager. Sunny Cove is located on Lake Muskoka, on the North West corner of the lake with a southern exposure. The cove is calm, and the water is so glassy and calm that many people come to barefoot waterski in this cove.

On today’s episode of Rewind Design, we have 94-year-old Ann Grotrian – a creative, an artist, a teacher, and above all, a lover of Georgian Bay. She loves bones, stones, shells and driftwood all of which you can find sprinkled around her ecclectic cottage!

She was born in 1928 in Toronto, grew up in Rosedale the youngest of 5 children with a father in the meat packing industry. They originally had a cottage on, believe it or not, Toronto Island!

As a teenager she attended the girls’ private school, Branksome hall in Toronto, and went to Ontario College of Art. She worked for 5 years at Henry Birk’s and Son in the window display department. When she was 45 she went back to school at George Brown for Jewelry making. She graduated and taught for 33 years and spent many happy years making jewelry.