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Les Studios du PAS

By : L. McComber en collaboration avec Inform

GRANDS PRIX DU DESIGN – 16th edition

Discipline : Architecture

Categories : Residential Building / Affordable Housing : Platinum Winner

Categories : Residential Building / Prefab Home : Gold Certification

The complex challenge of this project was to quickly build affordable housing without compromising its integration into the neighborhood, or its performance. Funding from the Government of Canada and the City of Montreal was awarded in January 2021, via CMHC’s ICRL program. To meet the 18-month design-to-delivery deadline, the architects are relying on standardization and prefabrication. Early in the process, close collaboration with engineers and the builder aims to achieve quality housing, while respecting time and budget constraints.

The two-story layout fills a hollow tooth in the urban fabric of eastern Notre-Dame Street. The units are arranged on either side of a central circulation, forming a compact volume with a regular rhythm. At less than 30m², the units are compact, but with plenty of storage and generous glazing to give a sense of grandeur. The units’ loggias provide respite, privacy and fresh air for tenants. Flooded with natural light, the double-height lobby provides a friendly and inclusive welcome. The adjoining common room and its office allow the caregivers to ensure a regular follow-up with the tenants. Outside, multiple vegetated rest areas reduce heat island effects and increase interaction between users. Thanks to the vegetable garden, the happy residents have the chance to practice a productive and therapeutic activity. The colorful, high-performance, inclusive, vegetated architecture project, open to the neighborhood, promotes exchanges and support for a vulnerable clientele.

Since last September, the nineteen units have been inhabited. The new tenants are more than delighted! Some are involved in the maintenance of the building and all are enjoying this new haven of peace near the banks of the St. Lawrence River. Thanks to the completion of the Studios du PAS, nineteen vulnerable people are housed very comfortably a few hundred metres from the Saint-Victor day center of the PAS de la rue, which offers daily services that promote the stability of the tenants (meals, activities, a place to socialize). In a context where specialized housing is decreasing every year in Quebec, the project was more than expected by the authorities and the general public. Rebuilding a stable life after years of homelessness is a major challenge, especially in a post-pandemic period. The model of self-contained compact studios with psychosocial services within the building makes an innovative contribution to the overall offer of specialized housing in Montreal. The colourful, high-performance, inclusive, green and open architectural project of the Studios du PAS encourages exchanges and support for a fragile clientele. A winning formula to be reproduced for sure!

Collaboration

Architect : L. McComber

Architect : Inform architecture

Engineering : Martin Roy et associés

Engineering : Douglas consultants

Engineering : Gravitaire

General Contractor : Étoc

Project Manager : Groupe CDH

Photographer : Ulysse Lemerise / OSA images