Big news: The firm Bourgeois / Lechasseur Architectes will be designing the new ENE!

The ENE team is happy to announce that the jury met on December 5 and unanimously selected Bourgeois/Lechasseur Architectes to design the new premises of ENE!

★ A $3.1 million project ★

After 10 years of planning for this major capital investment project, we announced last June that the new building in which the centre would establish its premises would be constructed in 2018.

This project worth almost $3.1 million has been made possible thanks to numerous donors who raised $200,000, as well as financial assistance from the Ministère de la Culture et des Communications du Québec ($2.3 million) and the Department of Canadian Heritage ($600,000).

First and foremost, this new building will enable the centre to develop a winter residency and to host artists and authors in contemporary art, all year round, in an environment that stimulates research and experimentation.

★ The competition ★

The architectural project consists of erecting a new building on the centre’s current site to host artists and authors in contemporary art in research and creative residencies; the premises will serve as a place for the residents to both live and create. Applicants submitting proposals had to be firms with a head office in the province of Quebec. Following the competition launch in early September, 22 entries were received. The four firms chosen after this first phase of the competition were BOURGEOIS/LECHASSEUR ARCHITECTES, L. Mccomber – architecture vivante, naturehumaine [architecture & design]/Microclimat, and Pelletier de Fontenay.

★ The jury’s choice ★

On December 5, the jury unanimously selected Bourgeois/Lechasseur Architectes as the winner of the competition for the complete reconstruction of ENE’s premises! Founded by architects Olivier Bourgeois (from the Magdalen islands) and Régis Lechasseur (from the Bas-Saint-Laurent region), the firm has designed residential, commercial, and public projects, including Place des gens de mer in the heart of the village of Cap-aux-Meules, in the Magdalen Islands. With notable projects produced in the Québec City region and the Magdalen islands since 2011, Bourgeois/Lechasseur Architectes is known for its contemporary, realist, thoughtful projects, which are inspired by outstanding features of the landscape.

The project proposed for ENE features a discreet façade, behind which a succession of flexible spaces and sub-spaces unfold in a simple spatial plan that encourages sustained experimentation by the residents.

Selected for its comprehension of ENE’s mission, the firm also stood out for its architectural concept that conveys openness to the world and is sensitive to integration of the building into its environment. “Bourgeois/Lechasseur offers ENE the possibility to express itself fully by deploying a conceptual proposal that is elegantly simple, in dialogue with the landscape, and oriented toward welcome and friendly exchanges,” noted Michèle Lorrain, chair of the ENE board of directors and of the jury for the architecture competition.

★ Open for creativity in 2018! ★

We’re delighted to entrust this major project to Bourgeois/Lechasseur. It is with excitement that we are beginning this time of big changes, and we are thrilled about the idea of welcoming you to our new premises soon! Construction is planned to begin in the summer of 2018, and the official reopening will take place in spring of 2019. Until then, we will continue our regular activities in temporary quarters situated in Saint-Jean-Port-Joli. The call for portfolios for the 2018 program will soon be launched! You can keep up to date on the call for portfolios, the artists and authors selected, progress on the ENE reconstruction project, and upcoming dates for regular and special activities through our newsletters, our website, and our Facebook page.

More news – and the inauguration of the “new” ENE – very soon!