Monkey Bars in the Hallway? This New Brunswick House Is Designed Like a Playground

The principals of Acre Architecture build a family home that focuses on fun with cargo nets, secret tunnels, a bright red facade, and a constellation of sconces in the shape of Orion.

May 27, 2024 - 18:51

Monkey Bars in the Hallway? This New Brunswick House Is Designed Like a Playground

The principals of Acre Architecture build a family home that focuses on fun with cargo nets, secret tunnels, a bright red facade, and a constellation of sconces in the shape of Orion.

Adair has long wished for Togo chairs, but as much as she loves the design, she tries not to be too precious about it.

Our Focus series shines the spotlight on the details: the extraordinary materials, spaces, and ideas that take great projects to the next level.

Technically speaking, Acre Architects principals Monica Adair and Stephen Kopp were the ones who designed their cherry-red cottage-country home in Saint John, New Brunswick. But their sons Valentino (9) and Hugo (12) deserve some credit, too. Without the influence and input of the boys, it would still be a welcoming and wonderful piece of modern architecture…it just probably wouldn’t be half as fun.

Adair and Kopp commissioned the metal fabricator who did the railings to create the monkey-bar rungs that line the hallway, powder-coated in seafoam green. Rings can attach to the monkey bars to give the boys a different type of challenge.

Because next to adult-pleasing elements like the moss-green Togo chairs, graphic Mutina tiles, and impeccable built-in storage, you’ll find design details that spark childlike wonder in everyone who visits: tunnel-like passageways, seafoam-colored monkey bars running down the hallway, and a woven cargo net hanging above the living room.