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Architects: Nathalie Thibodeau Architecte
- Area: 1800 m²
- Year: 2019
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Photographs:Maxime Brouillet
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Manufacturers: AutoDesk, Eco-Cedre, Trimble Navigation
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Lead Architects: Nathalie Thibodeau
Text description provided by the architects. The St-Ignace house can be found on a winding road along the shores of the St. Lawrence. Nestled in the surrounding linear landscape, the home offers a refuge between the flow of the land and of the water. Clad in cedar, the house will evolve over the years, slowly, like boats gliding on the River.
The experience, in the guise of a journey, begins at the property entrance. Here the siting of the two pavilions naturally directs the view toward a majestic copse of black poplars. Framed by the central patio, the trees are the foreground of a landscape painted by the St. Lawrence River behind.
Inside the house, the path provides an intermittent, narrow view of the water body. Only once you enter the open area does the St. Lawrence unfold in all its grandeur. The generous picture-windows frame the landscape, letting it flow into the home so you can appreciate its immensity.
The exterior patios give way to the surrounding landscapes and the transparency of the main volume allows the qualities of each to enhance the other, while maintaining their own identity.
Between the road and the River, as the boats pass by, the St-Ignace house offers grand opportunities to enjoy the surrounding landscape, creating distinct experiences in each of the settings around it. As the home serenely and sagely reveals the River, it invites you to contemplate nature while living in it. The windows and doors provide panoramic and specific views, which magnify its environment. Here architecture gives way to the landscape.