Maison II - PAQ Sherbrooke

Following their acquisition of two existing buildings of heritage interest on Sherbrooke Street in downtown Montreal, Projets Autochtones du Québec (PAQ) commissioned EVOQ Architecture to assist them in developing an emergency shelter project for First Nations, Inuit, and Métis clients in precarious housing situations. The project includes rehabilitating the existing buildings and incorporating a new 3-story addition, which together provide housing and amenities designed with sensitivity to the unique needs of its new occupants, all guided by a vision of integration and respect for heritage and the environment.

The project’s back garden offers an oasis of peace to occupants amid the hustle and bustle of the city. Activities and access points are oriented to this space, with the addition’s new vertical circulation core, clad with a second skin of backlit perforated metal panels, bearing the image of a large pine tree, evoking peace, and affirming the presence and place for the community—a symbolic lantern for the neighborhood.