Saucier and Perrotte Architects, 1995–2002

James A. Love is a professor architecture and associate dean (Research
and Outreach) in the Faculty of Environmental Design and an adjunct
professor of mechanical engineering at the University of Calgary. His
latest publication is the Illuminating Enginee

The numerous awards and significant projects by Saucier and Perrotte
support the firm’s position as the most significant architectural
practice in Quebec. Within its first decade (1988–99), the firm had
executed a project that received a Governor General’s award for
architecture—the Cinémathиque Québécoise in Montreal. This was
followed by a second win in this awards program in 2002. Its design for
the Perimeter Institute in Waterloo, Ontario, won a 2001 Progressive
Architecture magazine award, reflecting international recognition.

This book presents a sampling of the firm’s work. It has two main
sections, “Projects” and “Competition Proposals,” which feature
seven and five designs, respectively. The competition proposals are from
1989–97 and the projects are from 1997–2004. The basis for selecting
these is not explicit; they are not the projects that won the most
prestigious awards, so it may be that the intent is to create greater
awareness of lesser-known projects. The competition entries make the
greatest contribution to providing a better understanding of the
firm’s work, as those that do not win are rarely publicized, whereas
the built projects can be visited even in cases where they did not
receive awards. Each project entry includes the usual drawings and
photographs, as well as a page or less of editorial commentary. A more
extended discussion of each project would have been welcome to further
the understanding of the work of Saucier and Perrotte.