Michel Brisson Men's Store
Montréal, Canada
Saucier + Perrotte Architects

A store dedicated to the elegance of materials and light

© Gilles Saucier

For more photos click on 'photos & drawings' above. To see the people and products behind this project click on 'people & products.'

Bordered by brick and concrete walls on the east and west sides, the long rectangular space of the shop opens north onto the street. While preserving the simplicity of the space, the architects introduced a wooden volume open on all sides. It emerges slightly from the street façade and crosses the space on a central axis, folding up to create the back wall and the ceiling of the central part of the shop. This central element can be described as a runway placed in an urban scenography where the customer is the model or actor. A mirror placed at the end of the runway further accentuates the linearity of the perspective and the relationship between the hectic city life and timeless space of the runway.

The materials around the oak-floored runway are deliberately simple: polished concrete floors and ceilings painted glossy black create a reflection. The white metal plates on the two lateral walls are laser cut and are part of a racking system designed by the architects that evokes the notion of stitching black thread on white fabric. This idea is resumed in the lighting fixtures; linear fluorescent lighting designed by the architects that creates a "surpiqûre lumineuse" on the runway's ceiling. In a similar way, light emerges as a dotted line at the bottom of the laser cut panels.

Above the wood ceiling, hidden halogen lights are directed towards the lateral alleys drawing the contours of the exposed clothing. All elements emphasize the essence, poetry, and beauty of the materials themselves, architectural or textile, by gathering the whole in a linear, radiant energy flux, which flees into perspective towards the two ends of the shop.

Formal name of Project:
Michel Brisson Men's Store

Location:
Montréal

Gross square footage:
1,600 sq. ft.

Owner:
Michel Brisson

Architect:
Saucier + Perrotte Architects
110 Jean-Talon West
H2R 2X1 Montréal, Québec
Canada
phone : (514) 273-1700
fax : (514) 273-3501