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Maison Pellerin Trudel
By : Maryse Leduc Architecte
GRANDS PRIX DU DESIGN – 17th edition
Discipline : Architecture
Categories : Special Award / Architecture + Heritage Enhancement
Categories : Residential Building / Private House > 2 000 pi2 (> 185 m2) : Silver Certification
Once upon a time, there was a traditional country house, charming, elegant, welcoming a large family during the warm season.
This is a love story, between a summer chalet, a large multi-generational family, and the majestic St.Laurent River.
Filled with happy memories, one of the children bought it with plans to make it their family’s principal residence.
Transforming an uninsulated summer cottage into a functional and efficient four-season home for two generations was quite a challenge.
Moreover, because the city considers the house to be an iconic example of traditional houses in the area, they demanded that its unique character be preserved as it was. Insulating the walls would have required redoing the entire interior and posed a great complexity, skyrocketing the costs.
The eventual solution proposed was to consider rebuilding the cottage identically – while enlarging it (to add a garage and a loft above) – while respecting its distinct character, so that passersby not only recognize it as it has always been but also do not realize that it is a reconstruction.
Thus, the story continues into the present to the great joy of the family, who now enjoy the summer house’s exemplary comfort and functionality while respecting its history and local footprint in the community’s life.
The layout of the ground floor is a reinterpretation of the summer cottage with its adjacent solarium – capturing the timeless spirit of the original house – where the past is matched with the present: a functional kitchen and its large pantry, its adjacent solarium, the dining room and the living room in a row, and a family room with its TV corner. The enlargement accommodates the new garage at the front and a two-generational home with a loft-style space for the grandfather, facing the river.
The upstairs hosts the master suite and the children’s bedrooms and their bathroom, the laundry room, and office. Above the garage there is a loft-family room with a billiard table. The indoor space extends via the large outdoor terrace honoring the magnificent river.
The interior materials were carefully chosen to capture the warm spirit of the original house, calling upon local artisans.
The outer envelope was designed using high-quality, high-performance, eco-friendly, and durable materials: 2 x 8 timber frame and sonoclimat walls, superior insulation of walls and roof, triple-pane glass windows, metal roofing, high-quality forced air heating, hot water radiant floor heating on both levels. The result is significant: heating costs represent a 50% savings, in addition to providing exceptional comfort to occupants. This leads to a minimal energy footprint and a reduced carbon footprint. Reuse of certain elements.
Collaboration
