Gauthier House

The Gauthier House is located near the city of Mont-Tremblant. It is set in a natural landscape with marked relief, in the dense and extensive forests characteristic of this mountainous region.
The plot of the house is placed on a rocky woody mound of thorny and birch. It is belted to the east by the main road, and to the west by the owners' equestrian farm. The customers' desire was to favor a volume whose views would be largely oriented towards the horse riding below, while enjoying the privacy created naturally by the topography of the plot.

The woody filter preserved in the slope favors a sequenced and progressive approach to the building. The volume, not visible from the main road below, appears gradually until the imposing opaque brick facade, composed of a single offset arch constituting the main entrance of the house.

The client's marked interest in American minimalist painters and the presence in the program of her ceramic workshop influenced the composition of the mass plan as well as the interweaving of simple geometric volumes in the design of interior volumes. The volumetrics of European stables and stud farms are part of the references explored in the initial design process.

The organization of the house according to an asymmetric V plan allows the connection of two distinct areas: a wing dedicated to the garage and the ceramic workshop of the client, and a wing dedicated to living spaces. The relationship between the different spaces and their interweaving is conceived in such a way as to create a perceptive narrative for the user and the visitor. The alternation, in the perception of the lived space, of the sensations of compression and dilation accompanies the course, and the sensory presence of the matter (brick, lime, oiled oak) contributes to reveal a particular atmosphere.

From the vault of the entrance, the sequence marks the passage between the spaces of services, the studio of artist, and the more intimate family nucleus. The corridor curved between the two wings is the point of articulation marking the threshold from one to the other. The chiaroscuro effect generated by the contrast curve, once crossed, with the vast volume of the main room of the house. In this one, the high sloped ceilings are divided by two vertical slats that partition kitchen, dining room and living room without ever partitioning the volume.

Large skylights oriented to the east channel the light coming out of the lime-covered vertical slats. They also allow natural ventilation of the main volume. These volumes compose a vibrating atmosphere bringing a certain sacredness to the space. A third light gun positioned in the ceramic workshop directs the zenith light into the room.

Separated from the living space by a thick partition, bedrooms and bathrooms are organized in the fold of the general volume which ensures privacy and introspection. The layout of the house gives each room a natural light filtered according to the use.

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