Commercial Architecture January 2018 - 15

FEATURE

Opposite page. The former RCA Victor Studio in the
Saint-Henri district of Montreal is the new home of La
Hacienda Creative, a Canadian sound-creation studio
with a team of 10 sound artists who develop projects in
the realms of video gaming, television, advertising, museums, virtual reality, events, and products. All photos:
v2com, Annie Fafard
Below right. La Hacienda Creative wanted to develop
a hub of creativity, while instilling a sense of community that would be reflected in the built environment.

renovation

t was thought to be the end of an era

to be only one of a handful still featuring

when the RCA Victor Studio in the

RCA's polycylindrical wood-panel design.

Saint-Henri district of Montreal closed

its doors in 2015.

Over the years, the studio had gained
international attention with stars such as

Built in 1942, it was state-of-the-art at

Beatles' producer George Martin, Alan

the time with its molded, polycylindrical

Parson, Bette Midler, and Sinead O'Con-

wood diffusers researched and designed

nor, the report said.

by RCA Laboratories to mimic the prop-

Today, the studio is the new home of

erties of an acoustic instrument, according

La Hacienda Creative, a Canadian

to a CBC News report. The studio is said

sound-creation studio with a team of 10
sound artists who develop projects in the
realms of video gaming, television, advertising, museums, virtual reality, events,
and products. Over the years, La Hacienda has acquired more than 800 instruments that fuel the creative process and
drive their projects. The extensive collection ensures that no two projects are alike.
The company's studio was custom designed for modular workflow management and interaction, ensuring that each
project unfolds swiftly, creatively, and collaboratively.
Breathing new life into the 5,000-sq.-ft.
space was accomplished by MXMA Architecture & Design, Outremont, and
Newsam Construction, Westmount, both
of Quebec City. Paul Schapira, head of
Newsam Construction, and Maxime
Moreau, founding architect of MXMA
Architecture & Design, are credited with
paying homage to the studio's historic past
while envisioning a vibrant future.
After years of neglect, recapturing the
historic essence of the space would prove
to be a formidable challenge, particularly
given its proximity to a major highway.
"The clients wanted to work with an
architect with creative ideas," explained
Paul Schapira. "Maxime Moreau and I
have worked together on several projects
over the past three years, and I immediately thought that he was the right person for
this job."
"When we agree to work with a client,
it's because they understand the added value of close collaboration with an architect," said Moreau. "Rather than approaching projects in monetary terms, we
strive to infuse even greater passion into a
client's ideas, and to take them to a level
they thought was unattainable."
The process begins with understand-

commercialarchitecturemagazine.com

JANUARY 2018

COMMERCI A L A RCHI T EC T URE

http://www.commercialarchitecturemagazine.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Commercial Architecture January 2018