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Saucier + Perrotte Architectes is an architectural firm known for its institutional, cultural, and residential projects. Gilles Saucier and André Perrotte founded Saucier + Perrotte Architectes in 1988 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

History
Gilles Saucier and André Perrotte both met each other in the School of Architecture at Université Laval in the early 1980s. In 1982, they graduated from the School of Architecture at Université Laval. In 1988, while working together in Montréal for Cayouette Saia, they decided to start their own practice. In 1988, Gilles Saucier and André Perrotte founded Saucier + Perrotte Architectes in Montreal, Quebec.

The firm works alongside architectural concepts, taking into consideration the planning, geography, climate, and construction details. The firm’s projects ranges from small buildings, such as the Guest House in the Laurentian Mountains (2007), to major institutional buildings, such as the Communication, Culture and Technology Building for the University of Toronto at Mississauga (2004) and the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics in Waterloo, Ontario (2004).

In 2004, Saucier + Perrotte Architectes represented Canada at the Architecture Biennale of Venice. The firm has been recognized with many awards, including two International Architecture Awards (presented by the Chicago Athenaeum and the European Centre for Architecture Art Design and Urban Studies), three P/A Progressive Architecture honours (presented by Architecture Magazine), and 9 Governor General’s Medals in Architecture (presented by the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada). In 2009, the firm received the RAIC Award of Excellence for Best Architectural Firm in Canada, as well as a 2018 RAIC Gold Medal.

Gilles Saucier
Gilles Saucier grew up in the countryside, interested and inspired by the nature and trees surrounding him. He previously studied biology in university, however, 2 years in, he switched into architecture. His drawing teacher had recognized his talent and referred him to an architecture professor, whereby he showcased his portfolio and got accepted on the spot.

Gilles Saucier received his architectural degree from Université Laval in Quebec City in 1982. With André Perrotte, they both founded Saucier + Perrotte Architectes in 1988. As the role of the Design Partner, Saucier is responsible for the overall design of every project. He must ensure that all design criteria are up to par with the work of the architects while taking into account the architectural connection with the surrounding landscape. Aside from design, Saucier is an avid photographer. Photography helps refine his approach to architecture.

Since 1989, many universities in North America have invited him to be a guest lecturer and critic, including University of Toronto, McGill University, University of Montreal, University of British Columbia, University of Seattle, and MIT.

André Perrotte
André Perrotte received his Bachelor of Architecture at Laval University in Quebec City, alongside his partner Gilles Saucier in 1982. With the role of the Project Architect, Perrote is responsible for coordinating the design and construction process steps, as well as managing the dossier of every client. Perrotte works with Saucier to design and communicate information between all of the design process. With his architectural expertise, Perrote manages multidisciplinary teams from costs to schedules, control to production, and techniques to construction systems. He approaches construction as a contemporary cultural expression.

From then on, Perrote has been invited as a guest critic and lecturer by many Canadian universities, including University of Toronto, University of Waterloo, University of Montreal, McGill University, and UQAM (University of Quebec at Montreal).

Design Approach
Since the beginning, Saucier + Perrotte Architectes recognizes the role that architecture has in determining the contemporary city and the rural landscape. The firm emphasizes the symbolic and physical importance of the architectural setting, merging architecture, landscape, and geology into one.

The work of Saucier + Perrotte Architectes involves a design intervention from all spectra. Projects range from single family homes to neighbourhood redevelopment and master planning, from museums and theatres to sustainable residential complexes, from product designs to interior designs.

Complexe Sportif Saint-Laurent (Saint-Laurent Sports Complex)
2017, Montreal, Canada

In collaboration with HCMA Architecture + Design.

The Saint-Laurent Sports Complex is located between the character neutral and horizontally formed Émile Legault School and Raymond Bourque Arena. The Sports Complex design had to physically and visually connect with Marcel Laurin Park (north of the site), and the predicted green band running along Thimens Boulevard.

The two natural environments in the urban context is linked through both steel sculptural buildings. The translucent, white, and prismatic building, and the black, horizontally stretched building, invites pedestrians on the Boulevard inside, while also providing a passage for the park, north of the site. To elicit the various activities (training, sports, athletics) taking place inside, the two volumes give a floating impression. The network of sports venues and social spaces are carefully planned to encourage and support a healthy community lifestyle.

Stade de Soccer de Montréal (Montreal Soccer Stadium)
2015, Montreal, Canada

In collaboration with HCMA Architecture + Design.

Previously known as Miron Quarry, a mining centre, and finally a landfill, the city is now restoring the ecology and environment of the site. The Stade de soccer de Montréal appears as a layer of mineral stratum, expressed by the roof, from the park’s artificial topography. The architect’s goal was to bring a spectrum of people together, under one roof, to be unified by sport.

A continuous roof cantilevers over the plaza entrance, folding down over the indoor soccer field, and reaching to the ground to become outdoor spectator seating for the field. The stadium provides both options of an indoor soccer centre and an open-sky stadium to cater to its users’ needs. The stratum is made with a single gesture of Cross-laminated timber (CLT) to support the roof. The roof’s interlaced beams appear erratic suspended over the entire site; however, its density is determined by the areas where more structural support is needed.

Anne-Marie Edward Science Building at John Abbott College
2012, Montreal, Canada

The Anne-Marie Edward Science Building is in the John Abbot College campus, nestled in a rural setting along Lake Saint-Louis.

The design stems from its landscape, with its L-shaped design surrounding an ancient ginkgo tree. The building’s form creates a courtyard in celebration, protection, and reflection of the tree. In response to the campus layout, the building was orienting southwest, accommodating those who travel to and from its central void. The north façade is cladded with Corten steel, relating alongside to the red-bricked historical buildings. Inside, the architects designed the central staircase to be a sculptural and abstracted version of a tree, with branches of bridges spanning through the building and into its laboratories, classrooms, and offices. The large atrium allows the landscape to flow through its tall, vertical glazed walls, letting in natural light. The building’s glass material palette reflects the surrounding context, with different glass tones of light and dark grey, and white juxtaposing one another.

UBC Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences / CDRD
2012, Vancouver, Canada

In collaboration with HCMA Architecture + Design.

The UBC Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences is in the heart of UBC’s campus, designed to act as a gateway for students travelling to the southeast part of the university.

The building design is conveyed through the concept of a tree. The architects designed interconnected meeting spaces to strengthen and promote new methods of individual and collaborative research, for researchers, professors, students, and the community. Similarly, a tree grows branches that intertwine to create a unified system above the earth. The branch system of the building is represented by floating canopies, hanging over the ground level. With the conceptual tree trunks, natural light permeates through the atria into collaborative spaces. The transparency of the ground level houses an exhibition space to bring community members together to showcase the exchange of ideas. Though the façade is constructed of glass and steel, the interior wood cladding, cast concrete, white walls, and yellow and black accents, provides a warmer tone.

Scandinave Les Bains Old Montreal
2009, Montreal, Canada

Scandinave Les Bains Vieux-Montréal is situated in the heart of Old Montreal and overlooks the Old Port. The building, formally known as a warehouse, restored half a century ago due to fire damage, now houses an urban spa on its ground level.

The spaces were inspired by the duality of the hot and cold phenomena, with white, glacial volumes contrasting the warmth radiating off the volcanic rocks. The walls, ceiling, and floors are slightly angled to heighten the visitors’ awareness with their surroundings. Like natural topography, small slopes are created by the small undulations in the ground, ultimately leading to the basins of bathing water. The undulating wood cladded ceiling unifies the spa as it continues through the whole level. Architectural reveals result from the white marbled walls meeting with the warm-coloured wooden ceiling. Natural light glows through the translucent glass in the building’s existing openings.

Résidence dans les Laurentides (Residence and Guest House in the Laurentian Mountains)
2007, Montreal, Canada

Near the ski hills of Mont Tremblant houses this single-family residence and guest house. The Private Residence and Guest House in the Laurentian Mountains contains three main volumes – living, eating, and sleeping. The residence consists of three bedrooms, living areas, a recreation room, a sauna, and a screened outdoor living room.

Within the folded landscape, an intimate exterior space is created from the north façade and a three-meter-high rock outcrop. An interior staircase penetrates the overlapped volumes in alignment with the pool. Erosion caused the volumes to drift to the side, un-synchronized with one another, however, forming a balanced composition together. Formally parallel to the residence, the guesthouse slid westwards, separating from the main mass of the home. The design takes on the wooden elements from the site, as well as implementing traditional architectural elements local in the area. Tones of brown, green, and grey, as well as rough wood cladding imitate its surrounding nature.

Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics
2004, Waterloo, Canada

Located on the shore of Silver Lake, North of Waterloo’s downtown core, sits Perimeter Institute.

The design is inspired by theoretical physics - information rich and complex in concepts. A large pool to the north of the institute, reflects the series of vertical glazed walls and the three-storey cantilevered offices. The zinc-cladded south façade contains arbitrarily punched windows, delineated from one another to appear like shark fins. The layout is arranged around two central spaces, the main hall and garden. The main hall provides direct access to all programs, with vertical circulation from the concrete staircases descending along one side of the atrium. Wooden ceilings of lounge spaces contrast the glass and concrete materiality of the atrium. Bridges span over the external garden to connect and provide convenience for students and faculty.

Communication, Culture, Information and Technology Building, University of Toronto at Mississauga
2004, Mississauga, Canada

At the edge of the university’s campus, enclosed by a park and a courtyard garden, sits the CCIT building. The building is a place of occupancy, adjacency, and transition, as it creates a linear public circulation space between the Student Centre and the Library.

The glazed façade provides full transparency, diminishing the line between the interior and exterior. The concept was to bring the natural landscape through the building, into the courtyard garden, and through to the campus. Conceptual strands of landscape are vertically woven throughout the structure, connecting students and spaces together through bridges, ramps, platforms, and staircases. The building provides open and interactive spaces for its occupants, classrooms, and the outside environment.

Jardin des Premières Nations (First Nations Garden-Pavilion)
2001, Montreal, Canada

Within the Montreal Botanical Garden, this outdoor pavilion, built along the primary garden passageway, was built in commemoration of the Great Peace of Montreal of 1701.

The design of the permanent First Nations Garden Pavilion is to showcase the customs, traditions, and knowledge of the First Nation peoples. The pavilion signifies the connection between site and building, acting as a link between the spruce and maple areas of the forest around it. The undulating wooden roof shelters the exhibition, restroom, boutique, and office spaces on either end. The pavilion’s exterior spaces are integrated into the surrounding environment through the minimal design of vertical surfaces. This restricts the visual impact of the structure, leaving an open terrain between the building and the site.

Cinémathèque Québécoise
1997, Montreal, Canada

Built into the gap of two existing buildings, the design of the Cinémathèque Quebecoise demonstrates relationship glimpses between the old and new, interior and exterior, and actor and audience.

The “light box” entrance from de Maisonneuve Boulevard explores the qualities of film through its light-weight steel frame structure and illumination. A gridded glazed screen cantilevers over the sidewalk, whilst laterally extending to the restored, historical, stone and brick façade of its neighbouring building. The lateral extension forms a ramp walkway for people to move through the building. Videos and images are projected onto the translucent segments of the glass screen, for pedestrians to view. Thus, silhouetted images of those walking on the ramp behind the screen are projected onto the glass façade.