RobitailleCurtis

Founded in 2013 by a Montreal Landscape Architect and an American Architect, RobitailleCurtis brings significant international background to its personal, creative, and detail-oriented practice. Offering services in landscape architecture, urban design, architecture, and interiors, RobitailleCurtis achieves elegant designs across disciplines that are beautiful in form, rich in material composition, and that maintain a lasting sense of integrity and durability. Sensitive to client aspirations and to the character of place, RobitailleCurtis crafts an architecture that is authentic, efficient, and endeavors to elevate the human spirit.

Evolo X Sculpture Garden

A refined forecourt to the prestigious Evolo X tower, the Sculpture Garden will announce to visitors and residents that they have arrived at a special destination. Inspired by the rippling waters of the Saint-Laurence River and by the organic form of sculptures by celebrated artist Linda Covit; the garden design is comprised of sinuous walkways and sculpted berms. Together, the curvilinear landscape will create quiet nooks for residents to sit alone or with a friend, and will provide an uplifting place to stroll. The plant palettes interweaving the square will recall the natural ecologies of the native coastal headlands and meadows along Quebec’s vast seaway. The selection of plants, trees and evergreens will offer year-round interest with blooms, texture and color. The resulting sensorial richness will be that of an enchanting garden. High-end materials and gracious curving benches will contribute to the upscale and timeless design. Three sculptures by Covit will provide soaring focal points along the main walkway. With seating at their base, the sculptures will have an engaging presence. Their integrated canopy will cast dynamic shadows, and provide striking interest for tower residents (above) and plaza occupants (below). The elegant sculpture garden designed by RobitailleCurtis will enhance the privacy and exclusivity of Evolo X; the most prestigious address on Pointe Nord.

Quartier Pointe-Nord, Île des Sœurs, QC | Completed November 2019

Victoria Village House & Garden

The only remaining private residence on a block of beautiful, historic, St. Marc Stone clad townhomes, the clients for this project were looking to reclaim their rear yard from its current use as a parking lot for four cars to transform it into an urban oasis that is visually and physically connected to the interior of their home. RobitailleCurtis designed the garden as a private space that carefully screens views from the adjacent vacant parking lots. The existing kitchen was renovated to open the house to the new garden. A wall of sliding glass doors opens to a covered porch. The kitchen is filled with natural daylight and benefits from a galley layout that terminates with views to the garden.

Saint-Zotique Garden | Jardin Saint-Zotique

This residential project is located in a semi-rural area along the shores of the majestic St. Lawrence river, near Montreal, Quebec. When we first met our clients, they had recently completed their dream home with a magnificent view of the river, but the site was flat, open, and empty. They were looking to create a lush and bold landscape that draws from their appreciation for contemporary design while providing their family with a convivial pool and entertainment space. The design lays out two distinct spaces: the arrival garden and the lakefront entertainment area. In each, plants, trees, steppingstones & gravel paths, and lighting, define strong axes and a geometry scaled to the vast site and the bold architecture. Plants were selected to provide seasonal interest and movement with native plants in proximity to the river. The arrival garden has a backdrop of mature trees, in front of which a row of red maple defines a strong rhythm and mass planting of ornamental grasses and red-twig dogwoods add color and movement throughout the year. These plantings provide privacy while also defining a flexible lawn space for flexible play. The lakefront pool landscape uses symmetrical mass plantings of tall shrubs and ornamental grasses to frame views while softening and anchoring the house.

Saint-Zotique, Québec | Completed Summer 2018

Mount-Royal Garden

The challenge of this project was to transform a flat, shady, and relatively large rear yard into a bright and open garden with a sense of intimacy. In addition, RobitailleCurtis sought to create a front yard, that matched the modern taste(s) of the clients, while respecting the Tudor style architecture of the home. The clients requested a layout that would work well for social gatherings as well as maintain a sense of intimacy for use by two. They wanted an open space that would allow for bocce while being flexible for other uses. The lawn was elevated to ensure proper growth despite the presence of many surface tree roots from adjacent mature trees. The project includes a great diversity of plant species to offer seasonal horticultural richness, and to respond to the varied orientations of the site (shade, sun, organic soil, roots, curb etc.) In total, 33 new trees were planted. Ultimately, the planting design played an important role in defining space, creating intimacy, adding color, and concealing undesirable views of the neighboring properties. Where our clients formerly had a large, shady, and relatively unusable lot, they now enjoy outdoor spaces that accommodate a variety of uses: dining room; convivial living room with fireplace; flexible game lawn; small secret garden in the back of Japanese maples; parking; garbage pad, intimate kitchen garden at the side entrance. The unwanted views have been blocked; the house is much more beautiful from the street; and the bloom is rich and vibrant.

Town of Mount-Royal, Québec | Completed | Photography by Nanne Springer

Jardin CPE | Preschool Playground

The CPE Narnia outdoor yard was redesigned to provide greater opportunities for dynamic play, featuring natural materials, favoring creativity and flexible use. The play surface is an innovative porous paving system comprised of resin-bound natural granite aggregate. The ribbon-like pattern is made from 3 different colored stones, undulating through the space as roads for toy cars to travel or as a balance beam flush to the ground, or anything else children will invent. The playground renovations also include a custom-designed natural cedar playhouse and stage, benches built from tree trunks, large rocks embedded into the ground plane for children to climb and sit on, child-friendly plants interspersed with stepping stones and stone benches. Finally, the perimeter fence will be used to hang slate chalk boards laser cut in the shape of ornate picture frames, and a system of colorful tubes through which children can drop objects and watch them slide, roll, or race their way to the bottom. The design was the result of a collaborative process with the educators and families at CPE Narnia.