Page 86 - Designing Ways 258
P. 86
Blanchette Archi-
tectes Designs New
Vention Office Space
Inspired by Cities
Montreal, Canada
he reputed Montreal firm of Blanchette Architectes has
just completed the transformation of an old carpet factory
Tfor its client, Vention. Thanks to the project, the company
specialising in industrial automation gained more than 15,000 sq. ft.
of office space on two levels in its facility at 4767 Dagenais St., in
Montreal’s Saint-Henri neighbourhood.
Openness and fullness in harmony
Since Vention was already occupying part of the building, the
challenge was to tell a new story alongside the existing one. “To
do that, we designed a building within the building,” said Sarah
Arsenault, director of the interior design department at Blanchette
Architectes. “The project brief was to create a space that would
encourage the harmonious coexistence of a variety of functions. It
also had to work within existing architectural constraints, from the
high windows to the urgent need to maximise the amount of usable
space added to the existing offices.”
Because the ceilings were very high and the space was fully open, the
experts at Blanchette Architectes were intent on avoiding the “worker
warehouse” effect. To that end, they proposed occupying the core –
an idea inspired by older cities, where the settlement grew around
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