Vention

blanchette

Short description

Blanchette Architectes has just completed the transformation of an old carpet factory for its client, Vention. Thanks to the project, the company specializing in industrial automation gained more than 15,000 sq. ft. of office space on two levels in its facility in Montreal’s Saint-Henri neighbourhood.
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. We proposed occupying the core – an idea inspired by older cities, where the settlement grew around a nucleus, typically a church. The approach was truly reflective of Vention’s workplace community, where team members work in a collegial mode. The architecture implemented aligns with that philosophy, because it creates multiple meeting points for employees.
After installing a volume in the centre of the space as a way to divide it, meeting areas were created. Here too, the idea of urbanity inspired the designers, with the work and meeting rooms playing a similar role to the public and recreational spaces typically found in cities.
Gravitating around the main object, we find a monumental arch to one side. It is an imposing structure, created to link two existing technical conduits. Like an Arc de Triomphe, this structure magnifies constraints, celebrates victories and serves as a portal. On the other side, an adaptive podium serves as a parvis, promontory and threshold. Linking the two levels, the structure animates the space as a place of interstices and informal encounters.
As a nod to their frequent use in robotics and on production lines, structural shapes are used extensively in different sections, creating a look reminiscent of Meccano toys. But their function is not merely symbolic, because these metal structures serve, among other things, to support the cantilevered roof.