Rehabilitation of a chalet

Captivating, but especially ingenious, the project "<" eloquently illustrates the fertile and insightful contribution resulting from a great collusion between architect Jean Verville and his clients.

The rehabilitation of this "A-frame" reflects the architect's method, which, approaching the essence of the daily lives of its customers, leads them to scrutinize their habits and their real family needs to surpass their own limits.

With "<" Jean Verville continues his reflections on compact domestic spaces transgressing standardization. Challenging the initial hypothesis of a lack of space, the architect opted instead for subtracting floor areas in favor of spatial quality. At the same time compressed and fragmented, stratified and unobstructed, the habitable surface passes from 88 m2 to 64 m2 by intensively exploiting the densification of spaces.

Graphic in nature, the vocabulary of "<" results in a trigonometric poem juggling with the triangular emblematic figure of the frame in A, and expressing the geometric shapes in order to offer an internal impulse to the project, while retaining a signature of a minimalism assumed. The force emerging from the proposition imposes triumphant images of reality to propel us into an infinite territory, that of the imagination.

The chalet, built in the 1960s on an enchanting site in the Laurentians, has the characteristic form of an A-frame construction. Once the interior has been demolished and the structure completely cleared, the architect exploits the triangular structural shape rejecting the structure. monotony of a pre-established spatial organization to develop a new arrangement providing a feeling conducive to relaxation for this family home away from urban frenzy. From these choices originates a rhythmic plan resulting in a compact spatial conditioning which gives the rehabilitation a balance and coherence offering much more in quality than it loses in quantity.

The living space open to nature adjoins a compact kitchen area enjoying the clearance of the staircase as the double height of the structure. Playful and sparkling, the girl's den offers a huge underbed storage platform, always ready to welcome entertainment like girlfriends, plus a reading corner nestled in a triangular alcove. This all dressed wooden room reveals a fascinating place entirely dedicated to childish games away from the living spaces of the ground floor.

Ingeniously amusing himself with the games of scale, Jean Verville succeeds in increasing the perception of visual depth by exploiting the limits like the openings to draw admirably advantage of the density of this space. A window positioned on the floor of the master bedroom enhances the brightness of the kitchen area below, while offering a view of the lake from the bed optimizing the views of the surrounding nature. Swapping his mathematical thinking outside, the architect redraws a graphic volumetric whole unified by black. The subtractions applied to the four elevations pierce new openings pointing sometimes the lake, sometimes the sky, to better tell the landscape.