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Projet Guarana | General contractor : Groupe Cartier
Project Guarana involves a complete commercial office renovation on St-Laurent Boulevard in Montreal for a marketing agency.
Delivered by Groupe Cartier as general contractor, this mandate stands out for the technical complexity of the work, the reconfiguration of existing spaces, and the quality of execution achieved within an occupied building.
Rosa Design‘s Sandra Dages is responsible for the interior design direction of the project, integrated into the process to ensure the aesthetic and functional coherence of the layout, in close collaboration with the site teams.
Space Reconfiguration and Volume Optimization
The work began with a comprehensive review of the existing layout, aimed at transforming a compartmentalized space into an open, fluid, and functional environment.
The controlled demolition of several partitions made it possible to open up sight-lines while preserving the building’s structural integrity.
Site planning was carried out in such a way as to maintain the company’s operations during certain phases, requiring tight coordination of trades, sequenced management of interventions and rigorous control of schedules – a task fully handled by Groupe Cartier.
The creation of semi-open glazed conference rooms demanded a high degree of precision in aligning the new divisions with existing ceilings, mechanical systems and lighting.
Custom glass canopies were integrated to ensure :
optimum acoustic performance,
visual continuity,
a clear architectural interpretation, faithful to the design intent.
One of the project’s major challenges was the construction of a freestanding glass volume at the center of the space, incorporating a functional island. This intervention required:
complete floor levelling,
concealed integration of electrical and plumbing networks,
close coordination with ventilation systems,
millimetre-perfect assembly of architectural frames and glass surfaces.
Installation tolerances were kept to a minimum in order to achieve perfectly straight lines and a high-end finish, in keeping with the spatial interpretation defined in the concept.
The project included a significant amount of custom architectural joinery, including integrated wood furniture and complex curved elements.
The staircase, the central technical piece, required precise modeling, the manufacture of custom templates, workshop assembly and fine adjustments on site to ensure perfect continuity between the straight and curved elements.
The addition of a Japanese-inspired interior garden required advanced technical coordination: protection of existing surfaces, waterproofing, integration of specialized lighting and adaptation of mechanical systems to ensure durability and ease of maintenance.
The success of the Guarana Project lies in the mastery of construction details: precise alignment of materials, invisible junctions, discreet integration of mechanical components and uniformity of finishes.
This project demonstrates Groupe Cartier‘s ability, in collaboration with the interior design department, to deliver a turnkey commercial renovation, transforming the constraints of an existing building into sustainable architectural solutions and creating a functional, coherent and high quality working environment.
