Project Name: Perchée Residence

Location: North Hatley, Canada

Design Team: Matière Première Architecture

Area: 2600 ft²

Completion: 2026

Photography: Ian Balmorel

Design Features: Canadian studio Matière Première Architecture has designed Perchée Residence, a cantilevered house suspended among maple trees in North Hatley, Quebec, that prioritizes forest preservation over conventional site manipulation.

Rather than clearing the sloping terrain, the architects deployed a strategic elevation approach that allows the dwelling to hover above the natural topography. This suspended positioning minimizes ground excavation and protects mature tree root systems while creating sheltered outdoor zones beneath the extended structure.

The residence distinguishes itself through an unusual commitment to spatial continuity between interior and exterior. Covered outdoor areas occupy nearly the same footprint as the enclosed living spaces, blurring conventional boundaries. A longitudinal cantilever extends the house along the slope, generating an eight-foot-deep sheltered zone at garden level and a peripheral walkway above.

What conventionally serves as a garage transforms into a flexible covered volume that functions as terrace or threshold when unoccupied. The design philosophy treats the car shelter not as utilitarian enclosure but as inhabitable outdoor room, embodying the broader strategy of multiplying usable space rather than enclosed square footage.

Ten-foot ceilings combined with a thirty-inch clerestory band detach interior partitions from the roof plane, allowing light and sightlines to flow freely throughout. Generous roof overhangs filter summer sun while welcoming low winter light, eliminating harsh direct exposure.

Material specification reinforces this measured approach. Select spruce from Northern Quebec establishes interior warmth, while red cedar structures and white cedar cladding with weathering accelerator develop natural patina over time. Custom millwork oscillates between substantial and delicate, with wood-framed glass panels and built-in elements asserting presence without visual weight.

Marc-Antoine Chrétien describes the methodology as rooted in northern sensibility where climate and topography become integrated architectural parameters rather than obstacles. The result reads as quiet forest observatory, achieving equilibrium by inhabiting the slope rather than correcting it.

Design Team: Established in 2016 by Marc-Antoine Chrétien, Etienne Chaussé, and Dominic Chaussé, Matière Première Architecture represents a significant contribution to Quebec's contemporary architectural discourse. The Montreal-based practice operates through an integrated design-build model, uniting architectural design services with Nu Drom Construction under unified leadership to ensure seamless project execution from conceptualization through completion.

The firm's design methodology centers on deriving spatial authenticity from contextual analysis, particularly the relationship between built form and natural environment. This philosophical approach manifests in projects that prioritize site-specific responses over imposed formal vocabularies, allowing topography, climate, and existing ecosystems to inform architectural decision-making.

Matière Première Architecture distinguishes itself through a multidisciplinary practice model that enables direct material exploration and construction oversight. This vertically integrated structure facilitates precise detailing and craftsmanship while maintaining design intent throughout fabrication and assembly phases. The studio's work demonstrates particular attention to thermal performance, spatial continuity, and material honesty, employing restrained palettes of locally sourced timber species and weather-responsive cladding systems.

The practice's portfolio reflects a consistent investigation into threshold conditions and inhabitable transitional spaces, challenging conventional distinctions between interior and exterior programs. Through careful calibration of structural cantilevers, sheltering roof geometries, and permeable spatial sequences, the firm develops architectures of integration rather than imposition, positioning each project as responsive instrument within its broader landscape context.