ERE 132 | Creation & innovation
The ERE 132 ecological house has, first of all, the vocation of an interpretation center on eco-construction based on an affordable ecological housing model adapted to the northern climate.
The ERE 132 house, built near the entrance of the Reford Gardens, is a project based on environmental, economic and community principles. Its construction, management and operation were conceptualized in such a way as to maximize local and regional economic benefits, while minimizing its impact on the environment.
The construction project of the ERE 132 house was born in 2010 in the minds of the members of the team of experts composed of Pierre Etcheverry (Groupe CONTACT), Marie-Hélène Nollet (Architectes Goulet & LeBel), Marie-Élaine Banville (Groupe Architecture MB) and Isabelle Vézina (Cégep de Rimouski). The team advocates a multidisciplinary approach to design a building that respects regional realities and the principles of sustainable development. In the fall of 2010, the Bas-Saint-Laurent region created the ACCORD niche of excellence in eco-construction. After several reflections and analyses of the feasibility perspectives, this pole of expertise gives new life to the project by financing the study that will allow the team to lay the foundations of the project. Committed to developing markets, updating knowledge, innovating and mobilizing stakeholders, the members of the Ecoconstruction niche see in this ecological house project an opportunity to consolidate the network of companies dedicated to ecoconstruction in the Lower St. Lawrence, to promote regional know-how in this area and to stimulate sales of regional ecological products. By mutual agreement, they have made it one of the key elements of the Créneau’s strategic planning. The Niche’s commitment to the project and the scope of the objectives endorsed allow access to funding for the various phases of the project’s implementation.
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JOAN SULLIVAN’S GOLDEN BOOK | A year-round creative space
In keeping with our goal of providing a year-round creative space for artists, in February 2022 we welcomed photographer Joan Sullivan to the ERE 132 ecological house. Previously a photographer and documentarian of green energy, she feels right at home here.
Her singular practice of photography came about in 2020, with the fires of Australia. She was thinking of her daughter, who lives there. To calm her anxiety about the situation, she left her home in Bic to come face to face with the orange landscape of the river shimmering in the sunset. A sharp moment of eco-anxiety surprised her; everything was burning. At the same time – and to Joan’s astonishment – an emotion appears on her camera. A color, a movement. This precise moment gives birth to a long photo project. She now travels the banks of the river imaging the feelings that her fluctuations give her. In the summer of 2021, Joan exhibited Fragile River at the Jardins de Métis, in the flowered field, in collaboration with the Kamouraska Art Center.
OLIVIER PERROT’S GOLDEN BOOK | A peaceful place to concentrate
Olivier Perrot, violin maker for the Maison du violon, stayed in the ecological house to undertake the delicate work of restoring Elsie Reford’s violin during the winter and spring of 2022, to celebrate the 150th year of Elsie Reford’s birth. For him, getting away into the forest, away from the city, to concentrate on doing this painstaking task is crucial to his focus. Some of his work involves waiting – for the glue or varnish to dry, for the wood to take its shape, etc. – which makes him want to go outside to stretch his legs. The grounds of the Gardens in winter are perfect for a snowshoeing trip with a view of the sea, and the Mont-Comi ski center is only a 30-minute drive away. The ERE 132 ecological house is located at the gateway to the Gaspé Peninsula. It can be booked from fall to spring and has several common areas, a teleconference room, 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms.
To spend a stay at the Reford Gardens in this unusual residence, click here !
