What is the ideal home? How to improve people’s experience in their homes? The answer to these crucial questions may well be found in the forms of a pretty white house in Gatineau, every square inch of which has been thought out and redesigned.
Posted at 12:00 p.m.
This house, you could say, is the pilot project of the Volum family business, which Sophie Quenneville started with her father and her husband. “It’s the result of several years of reflection on how we can improve people’s quality of life through their daily lives in their homes,” says Sophie Quenneville, a designer herself. She, her father and her husband – who are respectively engineers and from the field of construction – enlisted the help of the architect Maurice Martel to complete their strengths and create this residence which was to become theirs, but also a representation of their vision of the house.
We really want to build houses that are fun to live in, that are comfortable and that don’t consume a lot of energy.
Sophie Quenneville, co-founder of Volum
Moreover, this property in which they live represents above all a source of inspiration for future projects, and not a model house that will be repeated ad infinitum, specifies Sophie Quenneville. This would be impossible anyway, since the orientation of the construction is of paramount importance.
For us, the basic rule is that the house must be adapted to its land. So we will never build the same one twice.
Sophie Quenneville, co-founder of Volum
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PHOTO MAXIME BROUILLET, PROVIDED BY MAURICE MARTEL ARCHITECT
Each house is unique, since it must adapt to its land.
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PHOTO MAXIME BROUILLET, PROVIDED BY MAURICE MARTEL ARCHITECT
Placing walls strategically helps frame views and provide privacy even in a context where lots are close together.
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Each construction will thus be designed differently, depending on the characteristics of its location. Several factors will be taken into account. “Where will the windows be placed in relation to the sun, in relation to the street, in relation to the neighbours? “, enumerates for example Sophie Quenneville.
The neighbors, precisely, were rather close in this sector of Aylmer, in the west of Gatineau. “The houses around were chalets before, which have been transformed. They are quite close to each other, and the ground was not very deep either,” explains architect Maurice Martel.
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PHOTO MAXIME BROUILLET, PROVIDED BY MAURICE MARTEL ARCHITECT
From the outside, the house is closed on itself, but the windows are abundant in the places that overlook the interior courtyard.
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PHOTO MAXIME BROUILLET, PROVIDED BY MAURICE MARTEL ARCHITECT
The terrace zigzags and is divided into sections, including this one which allows you to sit and have a meal outside.
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PHOTO MAXIME BROUILLET, PROVIDED BY MAURICE MARTEL ARCHITECT
A black steel fence surrounds certain areas of the site. The color also brings an interesting contrast with the whiteness of the house.
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PHOTO MAXIME BROUILLET, PROVIDED BY MAURICE MARTEL ARCHITECT
The terrace is surrounded by a concrete sidewalk with a radiant slab, which allows you to enjoy it even in winter.
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The idea is that customers didn’t want to be in their yard and all the neighbors would see them.
Maurice Martel, architect
The architecture was therefore designed by strategically placing the large white walls to create a kind of enclosure around the house, but also a pretty interior courtyard.
In plan, we therefore find ourselves with large open spaces, but which also offer privacy. The house has two bedrooms, as well as a living room, a dining room and a kitchen (designed by At Height of Man) in a relatively open area. The living areas open onto the terrace, which is heated. And that’s good, because you have to go outside to access the office, separated from the house by a small courtyard. The total area is around 1500 sq.ft.2says architect Maurice Martel, enough space to comfortably accommodate a family of four like the one who lives there.
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PHOTO MAXIME BROUILLET, PROVIDED BY MAURICE MARTEL ARCHITECT
The materials inside are kept simple and sober: Russian plywood on the walls, gypsum on the ceiling and polished concrete floors.
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PHOTO MAXIME BROUILLET, PROVIDED BY MAURICE MARTEL ARCHITECT
When rooms are well designed and speak for themselves, you don’t need a ton of furniture to fill them.
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PHOTO MAXIME BROUILLET, PROVIDED BY MAURICE MARTEL ARCHITECT
The living spaces, including the living room and the dining room, rub shoulders in an open area.
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PHOTO MAXIME BROUILLET, PROVIDED BY MAURICE MARTEL ARCHITECT
The kitchen was designed by the company À Height d’homme.
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Prefabricated “beautiful”
Another interesting element, the house is built with prefabricated walls. The panels are designed at the factory, and all that remains is to install them on site. “Roofs are also made with it. These are pieces stacked on top of each other, a bit like a house of cards, if you will,” illustrates Maurice Martel.
“It makes it super quick to assemble, adds Sophie Quenneville. It has several cost advantages, but it’s also very energy efficient. There is no thermal bridge, since the entire wall is insulation, so it makes it really easy to build passive houses. »
It also proves to skeptics that prefab can be aesthetically pleasing.
We wanted to do prefabricated, but beautiful, and architectural. It’s a small, very refined white volume, we wanted to keep it simple.
Maurice Martel
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PHOTO MAXIME BROUILLET, PROVIDED BY MAURICE MARTEL ARCHITECT
The property has two bedrooms, one of which is reserved for children.
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PHOTO MAXIME BROUILLET, PROVIDED BY MAURICE MARTEL ARCHITECT
The two children share the same room.
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PHOTO MAXIME BROUILLET, PROVIDED BY MAURICE MARTEL ARCHITECT
View of the master bedroom, adjoining the children’s bedroom. The bedrooms are set back a little from the rest of the house.
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PHOTO MAXIME BROUILLET, PROVIDED BY MAURICE MARTEL ARCHITECT
According to the owner, every little detail has been carefully thought out and chosen, even the towel hooks!
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PHOTO MAXIME BROUILLET, PROVIDED BY MAURICE MARTEL ARCHITECT
To access the office, you have to go through the terrace. Fortunately, it is heated!
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Moreover, the owners regularly show their homes to potential customers. “The idea is to have a model house so that people can see the quality of the product we have. To be able to really touch, feel life, and perhaps eventually have one built,” concludes Sophie Quenneville.