Nathalie Thibodeau recently completed a new residence located in Saint-Ignace-de-Loyola, Canada. Between the road and the river, the St-Ignace Residence allows enjoying the landscapes around it by creating distinct experiences with unique scenes that border it.
The entrance to the residence is marked by a subtraction from the main volume, creating both a visual cue and a functional shelter from the weather. The dark stained grooved cedar siding marks the entrance to the residence, extending from the outside to the inside to encompass and distinguish the block of servant spaces from the project. Naturally invited by a long alley to the living room, visitors come across a narrow view revealing the river in the background. This is how the house gently reveals the landscape that surrounds it, drawing attention and unconsciously preparing the visitor for the show to come.
It is by entering the open area on two floors that it's finally possible to appreciate the river in all its magnitude. The generous bay windows do more than frame the landscape, they let it spill into the house allowing to appreciate its immensity. The clear ceilings and the absence of partitions amplify this feeling of space and magnitude. In dialogue with the clearing on the river, the bay window of the living room allows you to appreciate a landscape on a different scale, focused on the proximity and the unique characteristics of the vegetation. These two openings on the outside, placed on either side of the space, allow you to feel in communion with the landscapes surrounding the residence.
The outdoor terraces each allow enjoying the surrounding landscapes in their own way. The one bordering the living room is refocused on the site, thus being more intimate and isolated. The one next to the dining room and the kitchen exposes the St. Lawrence River in all its magnitude. It allows the ultimate view, without distractions, to the constant movement of this seaway. Despite their positioning on both sides of the main pavilion, the transparency of the volume allows each one to take advantage of the qualities of the other while retaining their unique identity.
Photography: Maxime Brouillet