Build better

There is a conversation that we hesitate to have in the construction industry, because it challenges a model that is profitable: should new houses always be bigger and bigger?

The average house built in Quebec has almost doubled in size since the 1970s , while household size has decreased. We are building bigger, further away, on land that encroaches on agricultural land or natural areas, in developments that require kilometers of shared infrastructure – roads, sewers, water mains, services – financed by the entire community.

Every square foot built has an environmental cost. Properly sizing a house is one of the most concrete actions we can take toward sustainability. A well-designed 1,500 sq ft house, where every space is thoughtfully planned and functional, is far more responsible than a house twice the size with rooms that aren't really used.

Proper sizing also means density. Semi-detached houses, multi-generational homes, plexes, secondary dwellings in an accessory building: these are forms of housing that share walls, roofs, infrastructure, and services, and that allow more people to live in quality environments.

It's not that we need to build less, in the sense of building fewer homes. Quebec needs them, and a lot of them. It's that we need to build differently : better located, better sized, better built to last, with housing forms that share resources rather than multiplying them.

We often have this conversation with our clients right from the first meetings. It's not always easy, and to be honest, we work mainly in rural areas and small villages, in contexts where a car is often essential and where projects are far from major urban centers. But we can still talk about size. A well-proportioned project, with spaces that truly meet the needs of the people who will live there, is always a better project than an oversized building, constructed out of habit or fear of running out of space.

Building better what remains is a formula that benefits everyone and the planet...