La Fabrique 125: from textile industry to housing

10/07/2013. By Humà Design [Montreal] Canada
metalocus, ROBERTO ALIA

The transformation of this old textile industrial building into a new housing project is set in the context of Quartier Chabanel revitalization, an old industrial area in Montreal which is called to be the new beacon of fashion and design at the city. Combining memory and design, the building gets its own new identity, pointing out the evolution that has experimented.

Exterior view. La Fabrique 125 by Humà Design.

Exterior view. La Fabrique 125 by Humà Design.

Access. La Fabrique 125 by Humà Design.

Exterior view. La Fabrique 125 by Humà Design.

Access detail. La Fabrique 125 by Humà Design.

Ground floor. La Fabrique 125 by Humà Design.

Ground floor. La Fabrique 125. by Humà Design.

Hall. La Fabrique 125 by Humà Design.

Detail. La Fabrique 125 by Humà Design.

Cladding detail. La Fabrique 125 by Humà Design.

Interior view. La Fabrique 125 by Humà Design.

Dwelling, interior view. La Fabrique 125 by Humà Design.

Balcony. La Fabrique 125 by Humà Design.

Cladding drawing designs. La Fabrique 125 by Humà Design.

Geometric designs. La Fabrique 125 by Humà Design.

Elevations. La Fabrique 125 by Humà Design.

Ground floor. La Fabrique 125 by Humà Design.

General floor. La Fabrique 125 by Humà Design.

Underground floor. La Fabrique 125 by Humà Design.

Roof floor. La Fabrique 125 by Humà Design.

Initial view. La Fabrique 125. by Humà Design.

Workers. La Fabrique 125. by Humà Design.

General view. La Fabrique 125. by Humà Design.

“We reinterpreted the spirit of the place to convey the new vocation of Quartier Chabanel, defined as the Montreal hub of fashion and design,” commented Stéphanie Cardinal, president of Humà Design. “The project was conceived to be a beacon of creativity, light, and space, with customizable open areas, exceptionally large windows and incredibly high ceilings, and signage with typography that evokes the building’s industrial history as much as it states its new identity.”

The designers preserved the original spirit of the building, from the concrete structure to the rhythm of the façade’s frame and the exterior cladding materials (glazed white bricks and black bricks). At the same time, they played on the contrasts between the industrial past and the new residential vocation in order to affirm the building’s identity. For instance, the use of the fine lines of the Didot typeface stands out against the building’s massive form. Inside, the visual identity features motifs inspired by different sewing stitches –a reminder of La Fabrique 125’s origins – and the signage refers to the typeface used on the façade.

La Fabrique 125. Facade detail.

The ground floor has been detached from the rest of the building thanks to an awning that runs across two facades, serving also as a support for lighting, as well as a curtain wall. Thanks to the spectacular size of the original building, consisting of seven floors each measuring 40,000 square feet, the lofts in La Fabrique 125 benefit from extraordinary volumes, with areas from 860 to 1,307 square feet, ceilings are 11 feet high, and the windows are from 17 to 23 feet long.

On Esplanade Street, the old loading docks have been redesigned to offer six ground-floor units with direct outdoor access. The unit volumes on the east side allow for the creation of residences with studios. On the southwest side, 42 units have been enhanced with mezzanines, and 24 corner units benefit from exposures on two sides. The units looking onto Chabanel Street and many of those on the east side offers breathtaking views of Montreal.

To fight the effects of the crisis in the Montreal garment industry, the city of Montreal has invested $23 million since 2007 to revitalize the Chabanel sector (creation of a train station, access to Autoroute 15, redesign of the Marché Central and Chabanel Street). La Fabrique 125 is the first residential project to be created as part of the drive to turn the area into a new neighbourhood.