Have you ever been on a vacation that you wished would never end?

For most of us, the end of a trip means packing our bags and wistfully looking through photos on the way home. But what if you could bring your vacation home with you? In this case, a stay at a scenic, quaint, cabin in the woods inspired one family to recreate a similar retreat — their own personal vacation getaway.

Aspen Way is a bit unique: don’t be fooled by the screened-in ground floor! The entire building is actually built on stilts, some 8 feet in the air, a “treehouse” in the midst of the aspen forests of Ste-Geneviève, Manitoba. The cabin — although perhaps “home” is a more apt description — is quiet, and secluded, a peaceful escape from nearby Winnipeg.

And it was made possible thanks to steel.

The secret to the cabin is the steel paneling: a proprietary panel created by Artspan Inc. that allowed for D.I.Y. construction, even with very specific design considerations.

Artspan & The Panel

I don’t know if Chad Thiessen, Director of Artspan Inc., is a follower of Steve Jobs, but his business espouses the Apple founder’s most-known maxim: “Do not try to do everything. Do one thing well.” For Artspan — a member of a larger ecosystem of steel and construction companies under the umbrella of WGI Westman Group, Inc. — that means focusing on a core product: their patented insulated steel panel.

Unlike many insulated steel panels, Artspan’s offerings sandwich insulated foam between Galvalume™-coated steel sheets, the interior side of which is corrugated, giving the panel itself structural strength. You could — and people have — built entire buildings out of Artspan panels, without additional structural supports.

That panel isn’t all they do, of course: Artspan specializes in finding innovative and brilliant uses for these panels. “Other manufacturers will often sell you their panel in ten-foot lengths,” Thiessen explains. “But we’ll cut ours down into a full building package. It cuts down on on-site waste, and it’s obviously much quicker to install.” And, like using any IMP, construction and assembly is easier, too; Artspan even sells a “D.I.Y.” kit that includes all the fasteners, sealants, and hardware that a client would need to erect their own garage or shed in their backyard.

The Benefits of Steel Construction 

Thiessen says about half of their business is in residential construction, but the other half spans from vertical growing facilities, to retail spaces, to telescoping buildings that can expand on-site.

“About 95% of what we do is custom work,” says Thiessen. “We have some stock designs. But we are constantly adapting our designs to fit the needs of our clients.” That versatility is due to the strength of their panels.

“We’re quite unique in what we do,” he explains. “Our panel is good for floor systems, walls, and roofs. We do a lot of projects in the North (where foundations can be more challenging), so our system works really well in those communities.”

Thiessen also points out other advantages of steel, ones that are particularly apt for his side of the continent. “Fire resistance is a big, big thing,” he points out, referring to the wildfires that have started raging across western Canada each year. “It’s steel inside and out, so it’s very difficult to burn.”

And, because the system is all made from the same basic “building block,” fabrication can happen rapidly. “We can fabricate the panels we’d need for a 1500 square foot building — start to finish — in four or five hours,” Thiessen claims. 

Aspen Way

All of these advantages made Artspan the natural choice to handle the Aspen Way cabin. Situated an hour outside of Winnipeg, the humble cabin stands surrounded by bright-barked aspen trees. In the spring and summer, the leaves practically shine in the sun, the natural shape of the forest serving a sharp contrast to the cabin itself.

“The clients had stayed at a retreat-style cabin,” Thiessen recalls. “And they had this vision of duplicating that, the sort of building-on-stilts. We had never done anything like that before.” 

There was additional math and engineering to consider, but the Artspan panels were ideal for the project. The things that make Artspan panels ideal for remote construction were also positives.

Foundation? What foundation? The cabin sits atop stilts, with the ground floor some eight feet in the air. 

And above the floor? A one-and-a-half storey, A-frame-style cabin, complete with towering windows and surrounded by a 360 degree deck. 

It is, in a few words, the ideal site for a getaway retreat. 

Outstanding Design, Outstanding Project 

Thiessen recalls a little bit of additional stress during the design process, but it was nothing that the Artspan team couldn’t handle. “The heart wants what the heart wants,” he grins. “We do our best to accommodate.”

Because Artspan does so many custom jobs, they made the decision to have a dedicated structural engineer on staff. “We found that it really benefitted us to have someone on staff who knew our panel and how to use it, since it’s a unique product,” Thiessen explains. 

That decision paid dividends when it came to Aspen Way. “There are a few different, unique aspects,” Thiessen notes. “There are the stilts, of course, and how that plays into the ‘foundation’. The front walls have lots of windows, so our panels there lose some structural support. There was a pretty steep roof, which is also unique, too.”

Also noteworthy: the client’s decisions when it came to constructing the cabin. The client hired a contractor, and the two did all of the construction themselves. “Neither had worked with the panel before,” Thiessen says. “And, you know, it went quite well, all things considered!” 

Thiessen says that the elegance of the project — even if certain elements made the cabin more complex — is testament to how practical his panels are. “The fact that these fellas started with a stack of our cut panels (and our building kit) and were able to get it done?” He grins. “It’s pretty neat to see.”