Heritage of a Rural Patrimony

WINNER OF A 2024 CANADIAN ARCHITECT STUDENT AWARD OF EXCELLENCE

This project honours rural heritage through a sophisticated, simple and elegant approach. A series of pavilions is anchored by a stone wall that creates a strong axis running parallel to the train tracks and river. The pavilions are designed as separate entities, each with a purpose, and open to the river, adding to the sense of nostalgia. The use of regularly articulated open wood bays provides a warm contrast to the stone screen.
– Andrea Wolff, juror

LOCATION Petite-Rivière-Saint-François, Quebec

Like many rural centres, the Charlevoix village of Petite-Rivière-Saint-François is increasingly becoming disconnected from its heritage. This is due to a variety of factors, including the exodus of local residents following the modernization of rural work in the 1970s, and the tendency for new developments to be out of scale and out of character with the vernacular.

This project aims to restore Petite-Rivière-Saint-François’ built and intangible heritage through a program to protect, preserve, and transmit rural heritage. The project consists of a pair of pavilions, connected by a rubble stone wall that extends across a site between the village’s cliff and the Saint Lawrence River. It runs alongside the visible and invisible axes of the site: a pedestrian lane, the railway, the stream, and the river.

To the north, on a narrow plot bounded by Gérard’s stream, Quay street, the river and a grove, the Mother Pavilion hosts residential spaces for visiting artisans. 130 metres to the south, surrounded by mature trees, the Practices Pavilion provides areas for fishermen, carpenters, and craftsmen to perfect their art, preserving the heritage of ancestral crafts. Large workshops are dedicated to ship building, carpentry, maple syrup production, weaving, and eel preparation—all traditional practices from the region. Rubble stone walls define the main spaces and circulation axis, while large chimneys compartmentalize the rooms and are integral to the program.

As a whole, the project seeks to form new connections between artisans, villagers, and visitors, resensitizing residents to the territorial wealth of the region.

FACULTY ADVISOR: Thibault Nguyen

As appeared in the December 2024 issue of Canadian Architect magazine

See all the 2024 Awards of Excellence winners

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