Preserving Natural Areas

Preservation refers to the desire to preserve existing natural environments by limiting the spreading of new buildings through the land.

How to preserve fragile natural areas (vegetation, wetlands), as well as views and access to these lands, while also allowing for new development ?

The desire to preserve existing natural areas often translates into limiting the use of sensitive and significant land for building or streets. It also translates into preserving views and access to natural areas, as extensions of daily life (for berry picking, most notably).

WHY IS PRESERVATION IMPORTANT ?

Local biodiversity is essential to the fragile ecosystem's integrity
Pads for streets and buildings greatly alter the natural sites considered of great significance by local communities
Houses strictly aligned to face the street offer few or no views towards the land and other natural markers. Their indifferent orientation also makes it difficult to optimize the natural sunlight
Large, rigid lay-outs of buildings on pads transform natural environments into gray, dusty and monotonous landscapes.

WHERE ?

Through the land as in or near the village

Deep views towards the village and the land

Combining the use of pile foundations (less pads) and utilidors (less trucks/streets) makes preservation and development a possibility.

With less "pads", large natural corridors facilitates easy access for pedestrians, snowmobiles and Hondas within new residential areas. Houses are arranged into clusters so as to not block any neighbor’s views. Pads are only used for streets and parking lots.