Towering the St. Lawrence River with its 25 stories, the Nuns’ Island Project lives up to the reputation of both its clients and location. A simple task was requested: that all furniture be made anew through the lens of an elegant and streamlined design, one whose aesthetics would endure through time and trends.

From living room to bathroom, lounge, hall and dining room, our crescendo ends with this project’s keystone, a genuine Italian marble mantelpiece.

The marble, walnut wood and brass used for this project are unquestionably noble materials; and, once handled with such a simple design, they gives off warmth and humbleness, as an island of calm away from the stirring river.

An elegant result tinged with humbleness

New home, new furniture, the order was simple yet diverse: custom interior design and custom fixtures, both classical and contemporary, coexisting in a balance between luxury and austerity.

Integrated furnishing and custom fixtures take over the hall, bathroom, living room, bedrooms, patio and dining room. Every piece of furniture had to come into line and become one big family once completed and set in place. For such transparent and upright clients, we had to put up honest and clean furniture which reveal and highlight their whole structure.

Nothing is hidden, nothing is concealed; this arrangement was conceived as a tribute to its materials. The challenge here was to take a project almost entirely made of steel, a rather cold and unyielding matter, and to grant it warmth through the best-suited design. Félix Guyon’s approach is consistent and it shows in this last creation of his. Purity in design is, as always, at the heart of his art, and bestows an out-of-time quality to this project. Nothing is left to chance in this realization and, despite its ostentatious elegance and architectural aspect, it inspires simplicity and modesty.

Aesthetic yet functional

Each of this project’s pieces not only shows good taste but also proves to be very functional. Take the integrated concealed-compartment dresser in the small living room: it subtly hides considerable storage space, a television and a place to connect a device and work. Moreover, the bathroom fixture’s clever structure supports not only the sink, but also towels and toilet paper. 

Of course, steel prevails in all these creations, but other materials can be encountered. “I love contrasts. To me, that’s the recipe for successful results. The key is to use just the right amount of it, while taking into account the client’s needs, which is primordial…”, exlplains Félix Guyon, designer and founder of Les Ateliers Guyon. “Had the project been made with steel as its only material, the result would have been completely different, much colder if you ask me. The use of walnut wood adds texture and warmth to a few rooms, and marble, even though it does have a posh and cold connotation, is used here in its warmest shades and with a satin finish designed to confer poise, warmth and austerity to the mantelpiece.”

Les Ateliers Guyon 

Audrée L. Larose and Félix Guyon, design lovers and lovers in life, combine both of their visions and offer a design both masculine and feminine, where contrasts confront each other in a meticulous, subtle and bold design. They tell us their story: “We literally found each other, we form the best possible team we could have imagined. Our strengths support the other’s weaknesses and vice versa. From our often opposed visions arise results which surpass  our first intentions every time. We like to see ourselves as follows: Félix is a burst of ideas and Audrée is the funnel which refines and gives focus!’’ Together they become a “dream team“, as they put it themselves, laughing.

Their combination recently led them to present their Larose-Guyon Luminaire project at ICFF 2016, in New York. An artistic installation project for a few Chicago hotels is also in the works. These two multidisciplinary designers should stay on your radar, as it looks like their next projects are going to be more and more surprising!