Description:

Nestled among maple and fir trees in the Canadian province of Quebec, Atelier C is the home and studio of a creative couple – she a writer, he a musician photographer – which accommodates traditional living functionality combined with workshops that are seamlessly integrated into the space. The project designed by Nicholas Francoeur associates the diagonal and geometric features of the roof with the idea of an unconventional ‘passive house’, with unique touches of sustainability.

Atelier C has an L-shaped floor plan and an essential and pure envelope in its ventilated roof, clad in corrugated sheet metal with underside in oak. The facades are made of charred cedar wood strips that wrap around the volume, punctuated on the north side by narrow vertical glazed openings that seem to create a sort of contemporary and rigorous colonnade, while on the south front the windows are larger to allow natural light into the work spaces. The interiors, meanwhile, are fluidly structured and are light and bright, with the sole exception of the kitchen area which echoes the colour scheme of the envelope and features a top in Lapitec sintered stone, a mixture of 100% natural minerals with no resins, inks or petroleum derivatives, and silica free.