Projects / Schefferville Clinic
A clinic shaped by the North
In Schefferville, on Québec’s North Shore, the new clinic addresses a dual challenge: providing essential primary healthcare services to the community while designing architecture that responds sensitively to the northern environment.
Caring for the community, today and tomorrow
The Schefferville clinic includes an emergency department, examination rooms, and physicians’ offices to ensure access to primary healthcare for the local population. Existing facilities, now outdated, no longer meet current needs nor those of new residents expected to settle in the region. The project aims to enhance the quality, functionality, and availability of healthcare services while creating a welcoming and sustainable environment for the community.
Architecture in symbiosis with winter
Exposed to the harsh northern climate, the building integrates into the landscape as a dark, matte volume shaped by wind and cold. Its metal envelope is modulated according to prevailing winds to reduce their impact, manage snow accumulation, and create sheltered alcoves around the building. This protective outer shell encloses a refined inner volume clad in light-colored wood, warmer and more human in scale. Shielded by the projecting roof-envelope, this wooden core evokes softness, light, and the delicate brilliance of snow, offering a calming contrast to the severity of the site.