yinjispace

ARCHITECTURE
Atelier Carle
INTERIOR
Atelier Carle
LANDSCAPE
Oscar Hacche
PHOTOGRAPHY
Alex Lesage
EDITOR
Jinjie
Collection

In the southern region of Brome-Missisquoi, Quebec, the BROM residence sits in a landscape that speaks quietly, yet carries the weight of time. What remains of late 19th-century vernacular architecture in this area lends the site a distinct cultural density. On this land where history and nature converge, Atelier Carle chose to intervene with a sense of restraint—through what they describe as a practice of common work—to respond to the evolving legacy of rural architecture in a contemporary context.

In this conversation with the team at Atelier Carle, Yinjispace explored their understanding of “cultural consensus,” their stance toward elements that can no longer be preserved, and how architecture might respond to a site’s memory through material and spatial continuity rather than rewriting it.As they emphasized during our exchange:“When the original structure can no longer be preserved, we must assume a duty of remembrance. Culture—and architecture in particular—is always part of an ongoing narrative that integrates the past, the present, and the future.”

The scale of the occupancy program desired by the client, combined with the deterioration of the existing building (a wooden structure from the early 20th century with rubble stone walls), necessitated moving away from the preconception of total conservation to instead adopt a renewed conceptual approach, one more specifically rooted in the site. The goal was to situate the proposal in time and embed it within a kind of cultural continuum, however specific it might be.

The project’s implantation establishes the groundwork for this dialogue. In an effort to preserve what remained stable from the existing structure, the foundations and masonry chimney of the former residence were retained, shaping a specific siting strategy. As a result, entry to the new building involves passing through the remnants of the old one—a kind of subtle act of remembrance, a duty of memory—which defines the arrival at the property. The secondary buildings on the site have been preserved and incorporated into the overall landscape design.

The above-ground structural components are a combination of metal frames, wood, and exposed beams made from reclaimed wood. The four-sloped cedar roofs have high proportions and dominate the composition. They reference the surrounding monumental landscape of the Monteregian Hills, which is visible from the site. 

Stone, the leitmotiv in the deployment of spaces, grounds them in the site, prolongs the material traces of the fragile history of this property in the Townships, and provides a homogeneous thermal mass for all the interior spaces, powered by a geothermal system.

In plan, the spaces on the ground floor are organized in a continuous sequence, returning to a distribution of simple spaces where horizontality is prioritized, thus reflecting the landscape. Divided by large doors made of reclaimed wood, the plan offers fluidity to the spaces, despite the fragmentation of the volumes, which is perceptible from the outside. 

The choice of materials and furniture places the character of the spaces in an aesthetic situated between the old and the new, between the past and the present. Few materials other than natural components are used for the interior finishes, chosen for their durability and low emissions of volatile organic compounds.

In the same way that the architectural development ‘blurs’ the before and after, the atmosphere of the interiors suspends the identity of the experience of one’s own home, establishing a sense of permanence in the built environment over time, from the inside to the outside. In summary, this project weaves sensitive relations with the timeline, thus creating an architectural landscape that participates in our culture; it somehow contributes to the transformation of our rural world, our common well-being.

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