Archinect - News

A perfect cube chalet occupies a rural Canadian forest

2024-04-07T08:00:00-04:00

Montreal-based practice Maurice Martel architecte has completed a rural rustic home in Mandeville, Canada.

Set within a forest and bordered by a river, the Rustic Grade chalet is described as “the ideal mini-home to escape the hustle and bustle of daily life in the outside world.”

Image credit: Adrien Williams

The architecture of the chalet strikes a minimalist tone, taking a simplistic cube form.

The home is clad in a “meticulous choice of durable and maintenance-free materials,” with the form and lines of the cube contrasting with the organic nature of the forest.

Image credit: Adrien Williams

The number of openings is limited to improve energy efficiency, with the orientation of each window carefully chosen to maximize natural light while taking advantage of river views.

Image credit: Adrien Williams

The footprint of the home itself was also deliberately restricted, “embodying the quintessence of an economical dwelling wit...

Montrealers ask: What to do with the Olympic Stadium?

2024-03-28T13:45:00-04:00

But nostalgia rarely makes for good decision making. Keep the tower and repurpose it as a tourist destination. With the money saved, we can erect a better stadium serving the city’s current and future needs. Not all landmarks are sacred. When fire consumed the Notre-Dame cathedral, they raced to replace the roof; Montreal’s Olympic Stadium is not Notre-Dame.

Quebecers face a vexing choice: Keep the stadium or pursue an even costlier demolition that would erase the landmark, which late architect Roger Taillibert called a “poem in concrete,” owing to its location over two underground metro stations. The new, $870 million replacement roof that is being made transparent to let in natural light for the first time won't be completed by 2028. (The original Kevlar roof partially collapsed in 1999 and has suffered several smaller tears since being constructed in the late-1980s.)

Montreal has been floated as a potential location for a new MLB expansion franchise for the past few years. Our preview of the new BIG and HNTB-designed home of the relocating Oakland A's franchise in Las Vegas (another city that was on the league's expansion list) can be found here.

Provencher_Roy uses recycled glass material to complete Darwin Bridges reconstruction in Montreal

2023-11-02T13:45:00-04:00

Provencher_Roy has shared photos following the firm’s completion of a bridge reconstruction project in Nuns’ Island, Montreal.

The new Darwin Bridges makeover represents the first instance of Ground Glass Pozzolan (GGP), a recycled glass product developed with researchers from the Université de Sherbrooke and the City of Montreal, being used in an architectural design worldwide.

The project succeeded in reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 44 tons, while using over 88,000 pounds of locally sourced recycled glass (the equivalent of 70,000 wine bottles). A green space was enacted in a void created by removing the existing central median strip, and safety lighting has been installed to prevent tunnel sensation.

Image © Stephane Brugger

“The concept was always there, but the design and construction standards of the time favored the automobile. For this project, we were therefore working in a paradoxical 1960s context, on an innovative urban project to improve the user experience, while a...

Atelier L’Abri completes Passive House retrofit of 1970s garage in rural Quebec

2023-10-19T12:43:00-04:00

Montreal-based Atelier L’Abri has completed a Passive House retrofit in the southern Quebec village of Frelighsburg, Canada. Named Maison Melba, the project saw a former 1970s car garage transformed into a living space that is also open to the community for collaborative projects.

Image credit: Alex Lesage

The project brief and program were inspired by the fertile ecosystem of Frelighsburg, resulting in a scheme where, as Atelier L’Abri puts it, “beauty is in harmony with performance.” Outside, an Écomestible-designed landscape holds a greenhouse and a garden dedicated to small-scale vegetable production, while inside, the main building houses a residence, work studio, workshop, and a culinary production and meeting space.

Image credit: Alex Lesage

The exterior of the building is defined by a “noble and timeless look that blends with the countryside.” A steel roof is paired with wood plank cladding that gradually shifts from brown to g...

Acclaimed Canadian landscape architect Claude Cormier has died aged 63

2023-09-18T20:10:00-04:00

Canadian landscape architect Claude Cormier, a deeply admired figure within the country’s design community, passed away on September 15th at the age of 63 following a battle with cancer, the CBC and other outlets reported over the weekend.

The founder of CCxA was behind many of the country’s most beloved public spaces, parks, and memorial designs, including Toronto’s Berczy Park, downtown Montreal’s new The Ring installation, and the National Holocaust Monument in Ottawa. A statement from the firm credited him as being a “great visionary who influenced us in surprising and powerful ways, thanks to the creative force and joie de vivre he brought to all our lives.”

The RIng, Montreal. Photo: David Boyer Photographe Inc.

Born and raised in Quebec, Cormier studied at the University of Toronto and Harvard GSD before entering practice in Montreal in 1993. Over the years, Cormier’s work received more than 100 separate awards and honors, including being named to the prestigious Ordre Natio...

Lumber prices expected to hike as Canadian wildfires rage on

2023-07-18T13:06:00-04:00

Canadian wildfire smoke continues to blow over much of the U.S., raising air pollution to harmful levels for construction workers. Now, the impact of the fires is likely to raise U.S. lumber prices, too.

As reported by Construction Dive, Canada’s devastating wildfire season, which has been felt across North America through declined air quality, has impacted the largest amount of land ever recorded in a single year. As a result, lumber prices are expected to rise as Canada supplies approximately 80% of U.S. softwood lumber imports. However, it is too early to know how much of the affected areas include harvestable timber, as well as how much will be damaged in the coming months.

The Canadian provinces of Alberta and Quebec have been hit the hardest by the fires so far, with around 3.8 million and 3.5 million acres burnt, respectively. Together, they account for 44% of Canada’s annual softwood lumber shipments and 45% of total production. Canada’s weather conditions are expected to fuel more wildfires throughout the summer, which paints a grim outlook for lumber prices.

Renewed modernist Esplanade Place Ville Marie opens in Montreal

2023-04-18T14:46:00-04:00

A comprehensive overhaul of Montreal’s Esplanade Place Ville Marie by Sid Lee Architecture and Menkès Shooner Dagenais LeTourneux Architectes (MSDL) is now complete, marking the end of a $200 million revitalization project that’s brought much-needed civic life back to a busy section of the city’s downtown commercial core.

Originally constructed in 1958 and designed by I.M. Pei and Henry Cobb, who had opened their practice in New York just three years before, the site had become shopworn since its last redevelopment was completed in the 1980s.

Image: David Boyer

The new Esplanade PVM comes with improved pedestrian access, a modernized shopping mall, and reconfigured underground entrance to public transit. MSDL worked to enact new monumental staircases and a horizontal floating glass structure it says is the longest in North America. The perimeter of the plaza area is also reopened to attract circulation between the street and raised public level, and the original parking lot entrance ...

MU Architecture’s lakeside Quebec residence is an ‘ode to the beauty of nature’

2023-02-15T12:52:00-05:00

Montreal-based MU Architecture has completed a lakeside house in Quebec. Built on the shores of Lake Revdor, the three-level Break Residence was commissioned to fulfill the client’s wish of building a home on the land of his ancestors and is described by the design team as “a place of welcoming and gathering” for the small surrounding community.

Image credit: Ulysse Lemerise Bouchard

The project is located on a challenging site, with a narrow lot and sloping topography. The resulting residence is composed of several interlocking volumes resembling a series of rocks, with two levels visible from the street and a hidden ‘garden level’ on the opposite side opening onto the lake.

Image credit: Ulysse Lemerise Bouchard

On the street side, a sculptural main entrance is defined by a double-story canopy chiseled between the rock-like volumes. In contrast to the solid, secretive nature of the streetside elevation, the lakeside sees the residence exhibit an open and extroverted personality comp...

ACDF unveils Apple Tree House design in rural Quebec: 'A fluid work of art'

2022-12-30T14:44:00-05:00

Canadian studio ACDF Architecture has shared photos of their recent residential project in the country’s heavily-forested Lanaudière region.

Deep in the heart of rural Quebec, the home was designed for an urbanite family looking for an ultra-modern bucolic respite situated on a 250,000-square-foot plot with room to connect with each other and commune with nature.

Image: © Adrien Williams

The project was informed by the client’s deeply-felt connection to a childhood apple tree and relied on a relatively simple combination of glass and wood boxes that house different functions and are centered around a small open interior courtyard that showcases his arboreal inspiration.

Image: © Adrien Williams

“The home is designed for connectivity, and glances in every direction provide views across openings to other spaces,” the studio's principal and co-founder Maxime-Alexis Frappier said. “That being said, the boxes were designed to respect the need for privacy, and their...

Provencher_Roy completes transformation of historic downtown Montreal district into pedestrian mall

2022-10-19T15:59:00-04:00

Provencher_Roy has released photos of their recently completed pedestrian redevelopment along a six-block stretch of Montreal’s heavily-trafficked Sainte-Catherine St. West commercial district just north of Ville-Marie.

The project entailed the reimagining of a busy former four-lane street into a singular pedestrian and bicycle route between De Bleury and Mansfield Streets with the help of engineering consultants CIMA +.

Image by Adrien Williams, courtesy of Provencher_Roy

The plan increased greenery in the area by a total of 46% while eliminating street parking and drastically widening the sidewalk to create a linear plaza that connects a disjointed network of squares and public monuments into one “cohesive urban landscape.”

Image by Adrien Williams, courtesy of Provencher_Roy

Modular paving was used to achieve a visual distinction between vehicular lanes and the protected pedestr...

Benighted Quebecois architect Claude Provencher passes away at 72

2022-05-26T09:00:00-04:00

The Canadian architecture landscape is in mourning following the announcement that Provencher_Roy’s co-founder Claude Provencher passed away in Montreal on May 6th.

Provencher founded the firm along with Michel Roy in 1983 and went on to become a Fellow of the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada (RAIC) and was honored as a Knight of the Ordre national du Québec in 2021 for his commitment to his métier and dedication to bettering life in the great city.

Provencher_Roy's design for the Claire and Marc Bourgie Pavilion at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts was a 2014 Canadian National Urban Design Award winner. Photo: Marc Cramer.

Known for his quintessential pursuit of projects that came to define the avant-garde of new urban architecture in his native country, Provencher created a number of award-winning designs, including Montreal’s World Trade Centre complex, the Michal and Renata Hornstein Pavilion for Peace at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, and the recent headquarters for th...

Prefab cabins that 'disappear among the trees' designed by Canadian architects

2022-04-14T09:00:00-04:00

Québec City-based architects Bourgeois Lechasseur have completed a set of contemporary cabins in the woods near the Canadian metropolis. Titled Reflection, the two identical cabins sit on a flat clearing close to Massif Petite-Rivière-Saint-François, a popular ski resort.

Photography by Adrien Williams + Maxime Brouillet

Despite the far-reaching scenic views, the cabins seek to engage guests with a close, intimate relationship with nature, creating lodgings that would “almost disappear among the trees.” This disappearing act is centered on a completely mirror-glazed main façade reflecting the surrounding woodlands, with darkened wooden slats covering the other three sides.

Photography by Adrien Williams + Maxime Brouillet

Several design moves were made to create continuity between the interior and exterior. The entrance to each cabin has been pushed inwards, with a light pine used to clad the ceiling of both the external patio and internal spaces. The dark wood cladding from the ext...

Zoning and craft in Montreal's 'Plexes'

2021-08-10T09:00:00-04:00

Anyone who has visited or lived in Montreal has seen an impressive variety of external staircases that decorate the homes of the Canadian city’s historic neighborhoods. Beyond the range of architectural styles that adorn the facades and interiors of this local type, the Plex is mostly defined by these acrobatic outdoor stairs, which contort themselves to link the two, three, and even four levels of separate apartments to the street. Built in the 19th and early 20th century for multiple income levels, the plexes ranged from simple to ornate, though many housed large working-class families.

“Once known for affordability, Montreal has now joined Canada’s real-estate frenzy,” writes Sandrine Rastello of Bloomberg. Today, plexes are increasingly sought after as wealthy urbanites renovate and update, and architects and developers build contemporary interpretations of the form with up to six levels.

Outdoor spiral staircase in Montreal. Image: Cobra Libre (CC BY-SA 2.0)

Similar to New Engl...

Quebec and Montreal come into agreement for new transit infastructure

2019-07-08T16:37:00-04:00

Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante, right, has struck a deal with Quebec Transport Minister Chantal Rouleau, center, and Treasury Board President Christian Dubé to help fund Quebec City's tramway project in exchange for a commitment from Quebec to support part of Plante's proposed Pink line from downtown Montreal to Lachine.

Discussion over Montreal's proposed Pink Line is well underway thanks to a deal negotiated by Plante and Quebec Transport Minister Chantal Rouleau and Treasury Board President Christian Dubé. When Plante was first running for mayor, her pro-transit platform was designed to ignite an additional form of transportation connecting some of the poorer working-class communities to better public transit. With steps for the promised Pink Line, an article from the CBC states Plante had to secure support to Quebec by providing "$800 million to Quebec City, to help pay for the provincial capital's proposed $3.3-billion tramway network."

"The Pink line — which, when completed, is to run from Lachine through downtown to Montréal Nord in the eastern end of the island — was a key plank in the Projet Montréal platform in the 2017 municipal election. The western portion of the Pink line will now be added to the government's ten-year Quebec Infrastructure Plan (QIP)."

...

Fire & ice: blaze breaks out in Quebec City's ice hotel

2018-01-16T13:59:00-05:00

After a seemingly perfect start to the season, with temperatures well below the freezing point, Quebec City's ice hotel was hit by one of its fiercest opponents: fire. A small blaze broke out in one of the hotel's 45 guest rooms early Tuesday morning, forcing the evacuation of the structure, made completely out of ice, at the Village Vacances Valcartier winter park. "When I received the phone call they had to repeat twice that there was a fire in the ice hotel," said manager Jacques Desbois.

The fire was quickly extinguished and nobody was injured, however hotel operations had to be halted for a few days to remove smoke damage throughout the structure and buff up the snow and ice walls.

CBC News reports that this was the first fire incident in the 17-season history of the Quebec City Hôtel de Glace.

The fire allegedly started when a candle in one of the guest rooms like these fell on a sleeping bag.

All images via Hôtel de Glace on Facebook

Atelier Paul Laurendeau's Amphithéâtre Cogeco brightens up Trois-Rivières

2017-12-22T18:05:00-05:00

Built along the St. Lawrence river in the city of Trois-Rivières, Quebec, the Amphithéâtre Cogeco is a new performing arts venue by Atelier Paul Laurendeau, who won the competition to design the project in 2011. The project site was once occupied by a paper mill that shut down in the early 2000s, and the City of Trois-Rivières wanted a new recreational and cultural landmark in town.

Photo: Adrien Williams.

Named after telecommunications company Cogeco, the amphitheater was constructed in 2015 and the project site was completed in 2016. Atelier Paul Laurendeau designed the amphitheater at a monumental scale while maintaining a “light elegance” that makes the building inviting and open to all.

Photo: Adrien Williams.

Perhaps the amphitheater's most noticeable feature is its tapered 7,200 m2 rectangular roof, which glows bright red at night. The roof is supported by eight slender 850 mm-diameter steel aluminum columns that are 26 meters tall. It can accommodate up...

First look at the 2017 International Garden Festival landscape installations

2017-01-24T18:24:00-05:00

In response to the all-too-familiar “nature-deficit disorder” in society these days, participants in this year's competition had to create inventive “Playsages” that would inspire, if not remind, today's tech-savvy kids — and adults — to spend more time outdoors. Out of 162 proposals from 30 countries, six lucky designers had the winning schemes that will be exhibited during the 2017 International Garden Festival starting June 23.

Here's a glimpse of the winning projects:

↓ LA CHRYSALIDE by landscape architects Gabriel Lacombe & Virginie Roy-Mazoyer

↓ PAYSAGE EUPHONIQUE by MANI

↓ L'ESCALE by Collectif Escargo

HAIKU by architects Francisco A. Garcia Pérez & Alessandra Vignotto

SOUNDCLOUD by Johanna Ballhaus, landscape architect & Helen Wyss, architect

↓ THE WOODSTOCK by Atelier Yok-Yok

More details on Bustler.

OMA's Pierre Lassonde Pavilion in Quebec will finally open tomorrow

2016-06-23T15:18:00-04:00

After winning the competition way back in July 2009, OMA's Pierre Lassonde Pavilion is ready to make its public debut tomorrow. Nestled within Quebec City's 17th-century architecture and located at the historic National Battlefields Park, the Pavilion is the shiny new kid on the block with its boxy stacked form and glass-ridden exterior. OMA partner Shohei Shigematsu designed the museum alongside Jason Long and Ceren Bingol, in collaboration with Montreal-based Provencher_Roy architectes.

The new Pavilion adds more than 160,000 square-feet of exhibition space to the Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec (MNBAQ) and was intentionally designed to continue the topography of the nearby park, says Shigematsu. “Art becomes a catalyst that allows the visitor to experience all three core assets – park, city, and museum – at the same time,” he said.

The three stacked galleries of decreasing size will each house the museum's Contemporary Exhibition, the Permanent Contemporary collection, and...

A tour of OMA's Pierre Lassonde Pavilion

2016-04-20T15:15:00-04:00

Described in a press release as a "spacious and distinctively contemporary gateway to the institution's existing complex of buildings," the new Pierre Lassonde Pavilion of the Musee National des Beaux Arts du Quebec by OMA appears to have an exceedingly functional quality. Admittedly, the building won't open to the public until June 24th, so these initial photos by Iwan Baan feature a higher than average amount of protective tarps and plywood.

The concept behind the three gallery stacked structure, according to OMA partner Shohei Shigematsu, is meant to continue the topography of the nearby park.

"The activity of the city extends below, providing a new point of interface between the city and the park," Shigematsu continued. "Art becomes a catalyst that allows the visitor to experience all three core assets—park, city, and museum—at the same time."

Get Lectured: McGill University, Winter '15

2015-01-29T12:52:00-05:00

Archinect's Architecture School Lecture Guide for Winter-Spring 2015

Archinect's Get Lectured is back in session! Get Lectured is an ongoing series where we feature a school's lecture series—and their snazzy posters—for the current term. Check back frequently to keep track of any upcoming lectures you don't want to miss.

The next featured poster comes from the McGill University School of Architecture in Montreal, Canada.

Want to share your school's lecture series? Send us your school's lecture series poster and details to connect@archinect.com.

Lectures take place on Mondays at 6 p.m. in Room G10 of the Macdonald-Harrington Building, unless noted. Listed below are upcoming lectures only.

Feb 17
Tatiana Bilbao / Tatiana Bilbao S.C.

Feb 23
Manon Asselin, Randy Cohen, Dan Hanganu: The New Architecture of Montreal Libraries
Moderated by Guy Berthiaume

Mar 9
Sylvia Smith / FXFOWLE Architects

Mar 23
Bruce Kuwabara / KPMB Architects

Mar 30
David Newton / McGill University School of Architecture

For furthe...

More photos from the Reford Gardens 15th International Garden Festival in Quebec

2014-07-28T20:25:00-04:00

If you couldn't get enough photos of the 22 installations at the 15th International Garden Festival in Quebec's Reford Gardens, you're in for a little treat. Established in 2000, the International Garden Festival is one of the biggest events of its kind in the world and it continues to gain recognition...The Gardens will remain open until September 28, 2014.

Find more photos and other details on Bustler.

22 landscape installations now at the 15th International Garden Festival in Quebec’s Reford Gardens

2014-06-30T20:25:00-04:00

Sixty-five international designers created 22 garden installations at the 15th International Garden Festival, which opened this past weekend at the iconic Reford Gardens (aka les Jardins de Métis) in Quebec, Canada. Established in 2000, the event is one of the biggest garden festivals in the world. Located along the edge of the St. Lawrence River, the various installations are a playful reminder about the value of landscape architecture and nature in everyday living.

See more projects on Bustler.

Get Lectured: McGill University Fall '13

2013-10-23T17:25:00-04:00

Archinect's Architecture School Lecture Guide for Fall 2013

Here on Archinect we recently launched "Get Lectured", where we'll feature a school's lecture series--along with their snazzy posters--for the current season. Check back regularly to stay up-to-date and mark your calendars for any upcoming lectures you don't want to miss.

It's time to change things up a little here in GL. For starters, our first international school is McGill University School of Architecture in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

Since 2001, the McGill School of Architecture has featured several notable names--and a colorful collection of posters -- in their seasonal lecture series. A few recent lecturers include Bjarke Ingels of BIG; ARUP Principal David Scott; Shigeru Ban; Jeanne Gang; Luc Courchesne of METALAB, and UPenn Emeritus Professor of Urbanism Witold Rybczynski. Another regular feature to take note of is their lunchtime Brown Bag ASA-sponsored lecture series.

Select lectures are also available as podcasts.

Wa...

Cahier d'Exercices by Saucier + Perrotte Architectes

2013-01-10T14:58:00-05:00

Cahier d’Exercices is located at the entrance level of the historic Ross warehouse-store. The stone façade, its cast iron columns, and an expansive brick wall (punctuated with pieces of wood and metal) that runs the length of the store recall the 19th Century building’s industrial past as a retailer of large tissues, leathers and furs.

Crossing the threshold, the visitor is invited to explore the boutique by the clever use of a “degradé” — or gradient effect — on the ceiling. The colour changes gradually from a reflective, latex-like black to a pure diaphanous white, drawing visitors toward a reflective, opalescent mirror that extends the perspective of the space.

Placed at distinct intervals and delicately suspended from the ceiling, the racking system was custom designed by the architect to permit the clothing displayed to be perceived as a changing and evolving building material. Slightly reminiscent of the sculptural work of artist Fred Sandback, the straight, c...

Rebuilding Haiti: Houses for Haiti's homeless

2011-07-13T12:36:27-04:00

Quebec tent designer Maurice Monette thinks he has the solution to Haiti's housing crisis in his prototype home of foam and aluminum dubbed The Human

"I want something that will work in the culture of my country," he said. "I don't like foreigners bringing ideas that are not right for my country." Haitians who viewed the house loved it. Boulos calls his development "The Dignity Project" — bringing jobs and proper homes to his people, as opposed to the squat, 200-square-foot transitional homes rapidly erected in some neighbourhoods often referred to as "doghouses."

City of Trois-Rivières picks Paul Laurendeau's amphitheatre proposal

2011-04-14T15:43:10-04:00

The 14,000 square-meter, 10,000-seat open-air amphitheater will sit at the confluence of the Saint-Maurice and Saint Lawrence Rivers. The C$34,000,000 amphitheater is part of a major former industrial site redevelopment project.

Laurendeau, a Québécois architect and LEED AP, established his firm in Montréal in 1995 after only 4 years of working London and Paris. He is an alumni of both McGill University and Collège Jean-de-Brébeuf.

For more images, floor plans and details, check out his website Paul Laurendeau Architecte and ArchDaily.

Archinect - News

A perfect cube chalet occupies a rural Canadian forest

Montrealers ask: What to do with the Olympic Stadium?

Provencher_Roy uses recycled glass material to complete Darwin Bridges reconstruction in Montreal

Atelier L’Abri completes Passive House retrofit of 1970s garage in rural Quebec

Acclaimed Canadian landscape architect Claude Cormier has died aged 63

Lumber prices expected to hike as Canadian wildfires rage on

Renewed modernist Esplanade Place Ville Marie opens in Montreal

MU Architecture’s lakeside Quebec residence is an ‘ode to the beauty of nature’

ACDF unveils Apple Tree House design in rural Quebec: 'A fluid work of art'

Provencher_Roy completes transformation of historic downtown Montreal district into pedestrian mall

Benighted Quebecois architect Claude Provencher passes away at 72

Prefab cabins that 'disappear among the trees' designed by Canadian architects

Zoning and craft in Montreal's 'Plexes'

Quebec and Montreal come into agreement for new transit infastructure

Fire & ice: blaze breaks out in Quebec City's ice hotel

Atelier Paul Laurendeau's Amphithéâtre​ Cogeco brightens up Trois-Rivières

First look at the 2017 International Garden Festival landscape installations

OMA's Pierre Lassonde Pavilion in Quebec will finally open tomorrow

A tour of OMA's Pierre Lassonde Pavilion

Get Lectured: McGill University, Winter '15

More photos from the Reford Gardens 15th International Garden Festival in Quebec

22 landscape installations now at the 15th International Garden Festival in Quebec’s Reford Gardens

Get Lectured: McGill University Fall '13

Cahier d'Exercices by Saucier + Perrotte Architectes

Rebuilding Haiti: Houses for Haiti's homeless

City of Trois-Rivières picks Paul Laurendeau's amphitheatre proposal

Atelier Paul Laurendeau's Amphithéâtre Cogeco brightens up Trois-Rivières