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Tree, glass, stone
By : Jean-Maxime Labrecque
GRANDS PRIX DU DESIGN – 17th edition
Discipline : Architecture : Grand Winner
Categories : Residential Building / Residential annex : Platinum Winner
Tree, Glass, Stone
A Dialogue
A modest gesture as a homage to built heritage
Considering the exceptional character of this 1870 heritage house located at 3035 Rang St-Elzéar East, in Laval, Quebec, the extension project is sober, discreet and delicate, both in its proportions and its cladding.
The project is an interpretation and reintegration of the summer kitchen (which was originally the lateral entrance to the house), rebuilt with contemporary materials: glass and burnt wood.
Glass between a tree and a stone house
The new volume fits with little room to spare between the heritage house and a very tall fir. This quasi-miraculous insertion was made possible by the original pile foundation that is set back from the extension’s rear facade. The cantilevered structure meant a safe distance could be kept in relation to the fir roots, the project therefore never endangering the tree’s health and longevity.
A tactful gesture: a thoughtful approach to prevent outshining the character on a heritage building.
The new volume slips gracefully under the soffit of the existing house. With its sobriety and modesty, the contemporary treatment allows the expressivity of the centuries-old residence to stand out, avoiding any interference with its characteristic elements.
Materiality
The material coherence is ensured by a limited choice of materials and colors that relate directly to the context, namely the aged wood of the existing barn and the heritage glass windows. Both are treated as full wall surfaces; the glass on the north and west sides, and burnt wood on the east and south sides.
A dialogue is established by the massiveness of the stone and immateriality of the glass. The glass reflects the stone façade, as a tribute. The cantilever accentuates the dialogue between the rubble stone foundations, required by the weight of the original stone walls, and the lightness of the new glass volume.
The junction of glass and wood on the north corner is particularly important for the success of this project. This corner is dematerialized by the use of a 45 degrees mullion that makes any thickness disappear by linking glass and burnt wood directly.
Proportions of the new extension balancing the main building’s volumetry
For the new owner, the heritage house’s floor area was not sufficient. The family needed more space in the kitchen and dining room. The first plan consisted of a bigger living space but the final version of the project limits itself to the smallest possible footprint that still meets the client’s needs. Furthermore, the proportions of the extension derive from the site; its minimal width on the front façade is extruded towards the backyard to generate the volume.
A sober contemporary treatment, a weightless volume
In summary, any attempt to emulate the heritage house’s vocabulary would have distorted its original intentions and drawn attention away from its qualities. On the backyard side, the new volume offers unexpected features: the west and north glass panes reflect the beautiful masonry façade and give the inhabitants the impression of being outside. Being cantilevered, the new volume floats, becomes aerial.
Hidden behind trees and barely perceptible from the street, this delicate extension pays great respect to the ancestral home by disappearing behind it. It is in harmony with the bucolic stone building and its poetry, but it is written in a contemporary prose.
