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Résidence des Grisons
By : ultralocal architectes
GRANDS PRIX DU DESIGN – 17th edition
Discipline : Interior Design
Categories : Special Awards / Heritage Preservation : Gold Certification
Categories : Residence / Residential Space ≤ 1,600 sq. ft. (≤ 150 sq.m.) : Silver Certification
Categories : Special Awards / Interior Design +Wood : Silver Certification
How to live comfortably within an important heritage site like Old Quebec? This is the question posed by the commission to transform office space into a residence and add an intimate outdoor space. This posed a major challenge, since the entire site was built on. It’s clear, therefore, that the courtyard will have to be on the roof, and will have to be located in a way that respects the highly sensitive context.
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A study of the views of the building led us to a solution that takes advantage of the building’s characteristics: the voluminous roof will be replaced and the terrace will be recessed behind the stone parapets. This design makes the intervention virtually invisible from the surrounding streets. It’s an unobtrusive strategy that makes it possible to envisage the requalification of Old Quebec as a living environment and not just as a heritage memory.
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In a renewed relationship with the built heritage, interior spaces rely on a continuum of textures, shapes and colors to build links with existing materials and accompany residents in the movements of daily life. Tone-on-tone colors are chosen according to a warm palette. The discreet textures of limewash paint, wood and brick add to the depth of the experience. Curved, sculptural forms speak to movement and bodies.
Rather than relying on finishes that must remain flawless or risk being replaced, we rely on beauty in patina. This allows us to weave the intervention through the built heritage in place, and lay the foundations for their coevolution going forward. It’s a vision of housing that’s at once experiential, patrimonial and ecological. Materials will retain their relevance even when worn, limiting their environmental impact over their life cycle.
Collaboration
Architect : ultralocal architectes
General Contractor : SIRA construction
