MELLEM Les Trembles: Balanced Urban Living in Gatineau

Located in Gatineau, Canada, MELLEM Les Trembles is a residential project developed through close collaboration between ACDF Architecture and Maitre Carre. Rather than chasing spectacle, the design leans on measured form-making and an urban-first attitude, aiming for architecture that feels responsible, expressive, and quietly confident.

The project frames a clear ambition: balance rootedness, longevity, and comfort without wasting resources. This sense of architectural “dosage” shows up in everything from the building’s massing to its street-level experience, where shared life is treated as a feature, not an afterthought.

Rootedness Through a Calm Architectural Gesture

MELLEM Les Trembles makes its identity legible through a simple but powerful move: a sequence of arches along the ground floor. The gesture reinterprets the classical colonnade, communicating rootedness and permanence while staying human-scaled where it matters most: at the sidewalk.

These arches do more than decorate a facade. They act as an inhabited threshold that softens the transition between public city life and private residential life, creating a sense of welcome and stability. The result is a street presence that is memorable without trying to dominate its context.

Community Spaces That Face the City

With 189 rental units ranging from studios to five-bedroom apartments, the project avoids the usual “everyone disappears into the elevator” vibe. A deliberate decision places most common areas on the ground floor, directly engaging with the city and supporting daily encounters.

This layout favors the collective over the individual, treating multifamily living as a social resource. The ground floor becomes a lively connector, encouraging residents to share space, exchange routines, and build a sense of belonging that extends beyond the private unit.

Material Rhythm, Curves, and a City-Scale Silhouette

The arched geometry continues as a family of curves integrated into the overall volume, shaping a silhouette that reads clearly from the neighborhood scale. Transitions between red and white brick appear like a fine seam, giving the facade a crafted, almost tailored precision.

Staggered balconies add texture and rhythm, hinting at life inside while breaking down the building’s mass. Perpendicular wall projections deepen the facade, creating an interplay of light and shadow that brings a subtle, painterly dimension to the streetscape.

Measured Interiors and Mobility-Led Sustainability

Inside, ACDF Architecture extends the same disciplined logic into the common areas. Arches organize more intimate zones while punctuating a longitudinal promenade that links co-working and communal kitchen spaces to the gym. Light-toned walls boost natural illumination, while darker ceilings visually absorb exposed technical systems.

Sustainability is also treated as everyday infrastructure, not marketing garnish. Nestled within the site’s natural slope, the lower portion includes parking and supports active transportation with 375 bicycle spaces, plus 20 electric vehicle charging stations to help reduce reliance on higher-impact mobility.

By pairing efficient site use with durable design moves, MELLEM Les Trembles argues that density and quality can cooperate. ACDF Architecture positions the project as an urban refuge that strengthens public life at street level while offering residents shared spaces designed to actually be used.