Camp-de-Touage Services Center

The Touage Camp “Tow” dates to the time when the mouth of the Saguenay River formed by the islands of Lac Saint Jean was used as a towing station for wood logs to redirect them to the small dumping ground. Thus, the boom, an emblematic structure formerly used for log driving and forestry operations, forms the backbone of the project. A common thread that allows us to link with history while creating a springboard for the new resort vocation of the Camp de Touage sector of Pointe-Taillon National Park.

Besides the poetics and the form of the object, architectural notions have emerged from the boom reference. Protective screens, the footbridge, observation points, light filters, and the expression of the structure are all avenues of development that have led to a sober and coherent architectural party that meets the technical and functional considerations of the reception pavilion for the benefit of its users’ experience.

The architectural party in three segments

• The program’s fragmentation allows for the creation of a central reception area for all users of the Park while favoring the adaptation to the topography and the conservation of trees.
• The exteriorization of the circulations stimulates the discovery of the environment by the user while also being an economic strategy for a project where public budgets are limited.
• The articulation of a roof with wide overhangs hierarchizes the different functions and guarantees the durability of the wood covering. This enveloping canopy forms protected buffer zones for gathering, relaxation and discovery.

The Touage Camp Service Center combines a coherent and poetic architectural resolution with its natural environment. Motivated by the mission of the Société des Établissements de Plein Air du Québec (SÉPAQ), the project seized the opportunity to magnify a unique and majestic territory.

“enhance the territories and public assets entrusted to it;

… to ensure the sustainability for the benefit of its customers, the regions of Quebec and future generations.

…connect people to nature.” ¹

^{1.Excerpt from the mission of the Société des Établissements de Plein Air du Québec (SÉPAQ) – Strategic Plan 2017-2022}