Crossroads House

La Maison Crossroads, through the non-profit organization Bâtir Son Quartier, wanted to build a 3-storey residential building with an area of approximately 500 m2 in Montreal. The purpose of the building: to offer transitional housing to citizens who are in vulnerable situations as part of their social reintegration.
The major challenge of the project was obvious to all from the first discussions: the project had to be designed and implemented in less than 12 months. Very quickly, the concept of modular construction was put forward. The week following the start-up meeting, the design team visited the manufacturing plant to find out what design criteria should be met to enable this modular construction. An integrated design followed with the architect, the structural engineer, the module supplier and the builder. 2 months later, construction plans were issued in all disciplines. 9 months later, the building was delivered.
Delivering prefabricated modules in an urban environment, installing the modules by going over existing electrical wires, designing engineering and architectural details while respecting the limits of prefabrication are all challenges that the team was able to meet. You had to be on site the day the modules were put in place to see the benefits of prefabrication.