Architects:Atelier Guy Architectes

Area :2000 m²

Year :2022

Photographs :Charles O’Hara

Contractor :Ronam constructions inc.

Project Manager :SmartMill, Vincent Beaudoin

Engineering :Genie +

Design Team : Catherine Bouchard, Antoine Guy

Technical Team : Dany Berthelot

MEP & HVAC : CBTEC

City : Lévis

Country : Canada

In 2020, Atelier Guy architects designed the new head office and factory for Smartmill, a company that conceives next-generation automated systems for the wood-processing industry. The main aim of the project was to create a building with an all-timber structure, in line with the company’s vision, and to offer spaces that would not only be functional, but also comfortable, bright and friendly. The use of local wood and products at several levels of the project bears witness to the company's vision by concretely transposing its values into its new head office.

This new facility was necessary to meet the company’s growing needs and required a surface area of approximately 2,000 square meters. Serving as a showcase for innovation, the building is divided into an administrative pavilion facing the street and a factory section that leads into the backyard. The building is centered around a bright outdoor courtyard, brimming with greenery, and allows for the adjacent spaces to benefit from a lot of natural light. In fact, the administrative section is equipped with large windows that allow for a direct connection with the central exterior courtyard and the outdoors. Moreover, the circulation spaces along the transparent walls bordering the courtyard accentuate the synergy between the interior and the exterior. The architectural staircase, featuring the company's vibrant colors, extends through the hall over two floors, giving access to the workspaces on the upper floor. Bathed in natural light, a lounge area and an open workspace also overlook the courtyard. Closed management offices, meeting rooms, support, sanitary and technical spaces run along the periphery of the floor plan. The administrative section is distinguished by its transparency and the lightness of its structure spanning from the entrance to the inner courtyard. Consisting of three large triangulated sections of glued-laminated timber elements, the structure offers for a column-free span, allowing for great flexibility in the layout. Visible from the street, this structural design contributes to the architectural signature of the project, while subtly echoing the company logo.

The factory space is connected to the administrative section directly by the ground floor. It consists of an arched roof made of long curved glued-laminated timber trusses, which was designed to obtain the longest possible span without columns. The impressive resulting space allows the floor area to be completely free for production. It features high ceilings capable of accommodating two overhead cranes required for operations. The simplicity of the timber roof and the integration of a wide horizontal window at the top of the workshop contributes to the remarkable quality of the work environment. The majority of the building's exterior wall cladding is made of Eastern white cedar, a local, durable and low maintenance material. Board and batten sidings of the same material were added to certain parts of the facade, giving the wall a more textured finish and enriching the façade with the resulting light and shadows. These design choices really showcase the different facets of wood found in Smartmill’s new headquarters.

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