Governor General's Medals in Architecture — 2010 Recipient

Wishing to acquire new headquarters, St-Germain Aqueducts and Sewers decided to build a new facility on a site close to a highway, in Saint-Hubert, Quebec.

The building, completed in 2008, was constructed using local materials. The landscape design incorporates local vegetation. The façade articulation is inspired by the site features: the northeasterly winds, and the nearby road traffic. The programmatic functions (administration, factory and warehouse) are linked linearly. The building represents a channel into which a precious wooden box has drifted and floats on a pool of water; the wood conveys the humanity and congeniality of the family business.