The 31-unit Le Petit Laurier includes a continuous exterior walkway, which rings a communal courtyard for residents. The site?s natural slope allows for a threestorey volume on the street side and a four-storey volume on the alley side, and facilitates the inclusion of units for people with reduced mobility. Photo by Welldone.Arch
It is the in-between spaces that are the most compelling to Montreal-based practice blanchette archi.design. ?Third places??the cafés, libraries, parks, and other hangouts that exist between home and work?are the ones that Patrick Blanchette, the firm?s principal, believes ?create a place?s culture.? Blanchette thinks there is still work to be done in Quebec ?to deeply explore how to create a well-constructed Nordic place.? It is precisely this work that he sought to take on when he started blanchette in 2018. Blanchette knew from the outset that he wanted to design spaces that would amplify the province?s northern character. He was particularly inspired by his hometown, Fermont, but also by his visits to Scandinavia, where he observed the possibilities of architecture to elevate the culture of a place. Seeing how the design of Northern European buildings brought people together outside of their homes?even during the harshest of winter days?underscored the importance of creating unprogrammed, publicly accessible spaces that allow residents the opportunity to connect on their own terms.
An office for landscape designers Projet Paysage plays with n...