L’Avenue Project

Project completed as part of the Rayside Labossière team

In this neighbourhood, everyone knew the building. Not for the right reasons. Abandoned for a long time, it had become a place local people avoided, a blind spot on the street — one of those addresses people would rather not talk about.

Then L’Avenue arrived.

The organization had a simple and essential mission: to give young people facing difficulties a place to find their footing again. A real home, even a small one. A space of their own, stable and dignified, from which to start again. Supporting that mission required a building that sent the right message, both to the people who would live there and to the neighbourhood as a whole.

The transformation began outside. Bright, clear, unapologetic colours — not to erase the past, but to mark the change clearly. The building now says something different to the street. It says: things have changed here.

Inside, the 26 studios were designed thoughtfully and simply. A kitchen, bathroom, sleeping area and living room come together in a compact yet complete space. Everything needed to settle in, catch your breath and begin building something again.

We did not approach this project as a renovation. We approached it as what it really was: a second chance — for a building and for those who would live in it.