Casa Alma 24 / Maria José Benech + Stéphane Asselin

+ 35

Description submitted by the project team. The Alma-24 project is located on the northwest shore of Lake Saint-Jean, the third largest lake in the province of Quebec (Canada). Offering stunning panoramic views, the coastal landscape alternates miles of sandy beaches and imposing rugged rock surfaces. The land was home to an abandoned summer pavilion partially erected on the protected coastal strip. Sensitive to the protection of the territory and the revaluation of its natural characteristics, the new owners wanted to build the single-family residence on a renaturalized site. A first stage of dismantling the deteriorated structures made it possible to restore the natural profile of the topography, revealing its original identity and determining the implementation of the future residence, minimizing deforestation.

The new house had to fulfill the role of a place for family and friendship gatherings and at the same time allow its residents to escape the pace of urban life while ensuring a close connection with the landscape. The user and nature will then be placed at the center of the spatial concept and the architectural language will emphasize local culture. The use of natural materials will be privileged to reinforce the rugged authenticity of the place, assimilating the personality of the architectural interventions to the regional identity as well as to respond to considerations of resilience and durability of the different venues.

The residence is positioned parallel to the coast taking advantage of the impressive views over the lake and at the same time freeing up the previously occupied coastal strip. The house presents an articulation in resonance with nature in the experience of living: formalizing a fusion with the rocks, a connection to the forest and a window over the lake. The desire to minimize the imprint of the construction on the site imposed a two-level typology of which the second seems to float over the place. Starting at the entrance to the property, using the unevenness of the land to reduce the impact of the building, the composition reveals only the semi-opaque facades of the upper volume, reserving the intimacy of the spaces facing the lake.

Wild and native species, compatible with the climatic characteristics of the site, are articulated around the residence with the objective of, once mature, mimicking nature, returning the original character of the property. Between a summer “summer house” experience, with its semi-outdoor spaces connected to the rocks and the beach, and a “winter cabin” above the infinite horizon of Lake Saint-Jean frozen in the heat of the wood, Alma -24, reinforcing the links between the architecture and the uniqueness of its context, offers its inhabitants a sensitive experience of the identity character of the place through the four seasons. The Alma-24 residence has been chosen as a finalist for the 2023 Architecture Excellence Awards of the College of Architects of the Province of Quebec: https://www.oaq.com/ordre/prix/prix-dexcellence-en-architecture/prix2023 -vote/soul-24/