The 'Sails Benches' line the Vercheres park located near the St. Lawrence River.

Vercheres, a small village near Montreal, has recently integrated a unique memorial to honor those who originally settled the region in 1740. A local firm, Les Ateliers Guyon, has designed a cluster of benches with white oak sails rooted along the shore of the St. Lawrence River. Sails Benches echoes the arrival of 18th century explorers, while reflecting a particular artistic aesthetic that Les Ateliers Guyon has become known for. The project has recently garnered accolade from the prestigious World Interiors News Awards in London, receiving first place in the ‘Furniture Category’.

Félix Guyon, the former face of ‘The Firm’ in Montreal and founder of the featured design company, was elated by the opportunity to design a functional installation for his hometown of Vercheres. According to a press release, the young designer and craftsman stated, “I was immediately excited and also very inspired”, adding that “…[the project] was a dream, and a way for me to say thank you to all those who built the place I love today. ''

The installation is both visually striking and intensely sentimental. Working strictly with local talent, Guyon’s vision for the commemorative project would reflect and “…perpetuate the art of [the village’s] ancestors.” Particular materials that are incorporated into the benches – such as the white oak planks that create the sails - have historical ties to the town’s most prominent industry of the 17th and 18th centuries: the production of flat-bottomed boats. Built directly upon the original grounds of Fort Vercheres, the benches that speckle the grassland are a profound reminder of the tenacity and skilled craftsmanship that is so deeply embedded in the village’s history.  

Given the intense winters that the town endures, the approach to constructing Vercheres’ memorial proved somewhat challenging. Les Ateliers Guyon had to design a functional installation that was aesthetically pleasing and ergonomic, yet solid enough to withstand gusts of wind reaching 90km an hour (about 56 mph for the non-metrically minded). To accommodate the shape and weight of the sails (over 900lbs), thorough consideration was put into design of the foundation as well as the manufacturing of materials. Guyon concluded that, "After several months of discussions between the engineer, the metal team at Soudures Richer, the wood team at Chaloupe Verchères, the municipality’s planning team, and myself, we have come to this final result which is both poetic and structurally foolproof!”

The outcome of the Sails Benches has resulted from a negotiation between form, resources, industrial techniques, as well as cost and structural challenges. "I can spend days and nights working to achieve this balance. In these moments, my brain is at full throttle and my weeks go by like hours! I navigate the technical and economic constraints, using only my artistic instincts as a compass", said Guyon.

Conceptually, Vercheres’s Sails Benches is as romantic as it is functional. It’s the combined consideration for such a design that has impressed both local community members and critics alike.