La Cabine du Futur Est Plus Petite, Plus Simple et Préfabriquée

Julien Nolin has spent time designing in the Arctic, the Amazon, and Copenhagen, but it was never about climate nor latitude. It was a philosophy about the elimination of complexity, and what to leave behind in the design process. His Quebec-based prefab housing company Base Habitation, founded in 2023 and launched in March 2026, is the fullest expression of that idea to date.

The prototype, called Base Camp, went up in December 2025 on the grounds of LAO Cantons-de-l'Est, a hospitality property recently acquired by the outdoor lifestyle brand Beside. It sits where the footpaths give way to forest, revealing a cabin, but not quite a cabin, with a clean roofline and an exterior of either natural wood or stained black. For a prefab, it reads as anything but.

Nolin completed his master's degree in Copenhagen, and what stuck with him wasn't any particular aesthetic so much as the disciplined Danish tendency to resolve important things well and to leave everything else alone.

Step inside and the scale may surprise: At 960 square feet, the Base I model feels generous thanks to cathedral ceilings and oversized windows that let a surrounding tree line handle a sense of decoration. Floors are heated concrete, the walls clad in Russian birch, and the kitchen millwork was handled by Stele, formerly known as OVI Ébénisterie. The large oak armchair and island stools were made by Montreal designer Mitz Takahashi, whose background in Japanese minimalism suits the space and concept well. Custom lighting came from Montreal studio Jeta. Essentially everything was made in Quebec—a baseline expectation Nolin built the project around.