Discipline : Architecture

Categories : Residential Building / Cottage & Country House : Silver certification

Categories : Residential Building / Private House > 2 000 pi2 (> 185 m2) : Gold certification

The Noroît project is a contemporary residence for a family of 4 situated on a 10-acre site in the Laurentians. The volumes are inspired by vernacular architecture but are spectacularly positioned on the site. Indeed, part of the project is aerial and gently touches the ground in a way that preserves the natural site. The residence is suspended in the landscape and is a haven of peace in the heart of the forest. The main constraint of the project was its implantation on a small plateau that had been blasted before the land purchase. The site exposed a rocky cliff, like an open scar in the landscape providing insufficient buildable space. The clients were attracted to a plateau at the top of the cliff, but access was akin to climbing. After several explorations, the concept was to create a height project, first aligned like a candle. The rotation of the top floor was then proposed, on one side to provide safe access to the top of the cliff, and on the other to create a cantilever to protect the entrance. Subsequently, the approval process with the municipality was quite arduous as zoning only allowed 2 stories and the project resembled 3 stories. To demonstrate the viability of the project, several presentations and calculations concerning the average ground level of the topography in its original state, compared to its damaged state, demonstrated the added value and relevance of an exemption. The creation of an embankment on part of the perimeter allowed the first level to be considered a basement. The sensitivity of the architectural gesture, respect for nature, and enhancement of the cliff, stated as a healing of past mistakes, managed to persuade the CCU. The Noroit project, simple in appearance but with a very real regulatory, structural, and constructive complexity, represents a feat and exemplariness of all the project actors. The site is now used to its full potential to the delight of the clients. The interior design is sleek and offers spaces bathed in natural light with abundant fenestration benefiting from passive solar. The use of wood as the main cladding material, with sober colors, harmonizes with the trees present on the site. The upper volume is covered with burnt wood (Yakisugi) with a black metal roof (MAC Metal) and the cladding of the lower volume is covered in red cedar (Juste du Pin) in compliance with current insulation standards for energy savings. The project creates a strong link between the top and bottom of the cliff, between exposed geology and an unfolding horizon, to the great pleasure of a family that dialogues in harmony with nature.

David Boyer Photographe

The project in images