Recipient of the Prix de Rome in Architecture (Canada Council for the Arts, 2001), the collective in situ atelier d’architecture works, since more than 25 years, to define a multidisciplinary architectural practice: furniture, interior design, installation, museography, residential, cultural and commercial architecture, and urban design. This approach allows the studio to develop robust and original concepts generated from a global vision. Catalyst in the creative process, the notion of site is taken on as active, spatial, and temporal data. Recognized for the clarity of their design, and the highly refined signature of their projects, in situ attributes an undeniable importance to the quality of the materiality of its projects, where attention is given to the most minute details of design. Its capacity to see and read the city in a prospective manner allows the firm to cultivate new visions of urban development.
_conception
in situ’s associates – Annie Lebel and Stéphane Pratte – take active roles in the conception and evolution of the firm’s work. Each assures the direction of given mandates. As such, there is direct support for each project, which ensures a clear vision and fluidity in the passages from one phase to another. The work, at diverse scales, allows the firm to manage the project from its global design down to the details of furnishings. The firm’s exceptional design quality has been recognized by numerous awards.
_recycling
in situ has developed particular expertise in the quasi-surgical integration of contemporary structures into urban, regional, geographical, historical and heritage contexts. The firm’s ability to produce potent responses to complex issues is generated from detailed and relevant readings and analyses of built, landscape and cultural contexts. On numerous occasions, the studio has been rewarded by the Quebec Order of Architects for building conversion and recycling projects in Montreal: PHI Center (2013), Darling Foundry (2003), Zone Building (1998). More recently, the studio won – in a joint venture with Co-architecture and Jacques Plante Architecte – the competition for Robert Lepage’s new project, Le Diamant. This new performance hall integrates stunning contemporary architecture with a heritage building in Place d’Youville, Quebec City.
_culture
Since its creation, in situ has had a privileged relationship with the cultural milieu. The studio draws many of its references from the field of contemporary art. This interest gives it a broader understanding of what constitutes a cultural project, and allows it to better grasp client needs and propose innovative solutions. This expertise has repeatedly been implemented in the creation of cultural production and dissemination centers of diverse natures, budgets and programs: Darling Foundry (2003), the Théâtre des Deux Rives (2006), the Marie Chouinard Production and Dissemination Center (2008), PHI Center (2013), and Le Diamant (2019).