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Territoire Charlevoix
By : Atelier L'Abri
GRANDS PRIX DU DESIGN – 17th edition
Discipline : Architecture : Grand Winner
Categories : Special Award / Architecture + Wood : Gold Certification
Categories : Special Award / Architecture + Landscape : Gold Certification
Categories : Commercial Building / Hotel & Resort : Gold Certification
Hospitality in the wild
Atelier L’Abri introduces Territoire Charlevoix, a singular concept of experiential camping set in the Canadian wilderness. The vast forest site is located inland between La Malbaie and Baie-Saint-Paul. The remote location offers spectacular panoramic views of the magnificent Charlevoix region of Quebec and its infinite landscape.
The unique experience proposed by Territoire inspired the designers to develop an architectural response deeply influenced by its context. This led to a series of structures that are simple, yet varied; familiar, yet unusual. Immersed in nature, these site-adapted constructions provide rest, comfort, security, escape, and entertainment. Minimalist by design, the rustic installations integrate themselves in perfect harmony with their natural surroundings. The various modules imagined by Atelier L’Abri include camping shelters, viewing platforms with communal kitchens, and a visitor center that houses a forest buvette.
Intimacy, minimalism, and immersion
The five shelters are small, autonomous buildings that offer an intimate encounter with nature in complete comfort, both in summer and in winter. Balancing rusticity and modernity, they are warm and functional spaces, conductive to tranquility and evasion.
Their orientation, carefully chosen location, and generous openings provide ample room for nature. Perched on slender legs, the small cabins blend into the wild landscape with minimal impact on the ground. The lack of traditional foundations avoids the use of heavy machinery, unsuitable for the isolated and wild environment, and thus limits the deforestation required for the development of these forest constructions.
The volume of the shelters is distinguished by its single-slope roof, which follows the natural topography of the site. This bold form is reminiscent of the shape of large dormers, or old cameras. Like these optical devices, the prisms of Territoire’s small living machines peak towards a wide opening to form a true focal point on the landscape. This large glass pane spans the entire width of the interior plan and tilts lightly towards the valleys below, creating a plunging view of the territory. The cabins face the sunrise on one side of the site, and the sunset on the other, thus offering varied experiences of the region and its timeless moments.
The layout is compact and functional to reduce the building’s impact, but meticulously optimized in its interior design to offer a generous and comfortable space. The shelters are equipped with a kitchenette, a small dining table, a wood stove, and a large bed directly in front of a bay window. Bench spaces are integrated into the floor’s changing levels. A built-in space also enables the placement of an additional mattress, making it possible to accommodate three people in a shelter. These height variations give a hierarchy to the spaces and create, without cluttering the plan, a separation between the work area of the kitchen and the rest area of the bed. Each shelter also includes a covered outdoor dining area adjacent to the interior volume. This terrace features a large table and a workbench, providing a protected entry area for occupants.
The interior design is sleek and warm. A series of integrated furniture modules was designed to maximize space usage within a reasonable budget. These simple and utilitarian modules are inspired by the modernist explorations of the early last century, while the use of economical and standardized materials, such as plywood, evokes the pieces of Donald Judd. White wood paneling softens the experience and invites tranquility, offering a contrast with the exterior wood cladding’s raw and natural finish, in harmony with its surroundings. The outdoor program of the shelters is completed by a fire circle, a log shelter, and a wooden dry toilet.
Collaboration
