Rethinking today’s home | The Press

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.

Sophie Ouimet
The Press

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.