Twenty + Change: blanchette archi.design

It is the in-between spaces that are the most compelling to Montreal-based practice blanchette archi.design. “Third places”—the cafés, libraries, parks, and other hangouts that exist between home and work—are the ones that Patrick Blanchette, the firm’s principal, believes “create a place’s culture.” Blanchette thinks there is still work to be done in Quebec “to deeply explore how to create a well-constructed Nordic place.” It is precisely this work that he sought to take on when he started blanchette in 2018.

Blanchette knew from the outset that he wanted to design spaces that would amplify the province’s northern character. He was particularly inspired by his hometown, Fermont, but also by his visits to Scandinavia, where he observed the possibilities of architecture to elevate the culture of a place. Seeing how the design of Northern European buildings brought people together outside of their homes—even during the harshest of winter days—underscored the importance of creating unprogrammed, publicly accessible spaces that allow residents the opportunity to connect on their own terms.

Blanchette understands architecture and design as “setting the stage for social interactions.” His firm approaches all of its work, regardless of program or scale, as having the potential to actively shape people’s lives and the collective life of cities. The rebranding of the practice in 2022—from “architecture” to “archi.design”—formally recognizes its multi-disciplinary approach and expertise, which includes furniture, interiors, architecture, landscape, and urban design. Many of their projects begin, says Blanchette, by thinking about the qualities that would create “the appropriate backdrop for the local culture,” as it manifests in all scales of design.

One of the projects that most clearly demonstrates the firm’s commitment to creating “third places” is Le Petit Laurier. Here, blanchette archi.design marries a streets-in-the-sky model with courtyard housing. The result is a hybrid type that integrates (and maximizes) indoor and outdoor spaces for residents to encounter their neighbours and build community. As with all the practice’s work, building physical infrastructure is understood as an opportunity to create the social infrastructure that allows local cultures to flourish.

Blanchette summarizes his approach to architecture in three questions: “How can we make it better? How can we make it sustainable? And how can we make it local?” Together, these three questions guide a process that Blanchette hopes will generate designs that are “a true reflection of a place.”

This profile is part of our October 2024 feature story, Twenty + Change: New Perspectives. 

As appeared in the October 2024 issue of Canadian Architect magazine

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