Multifunctional spaces with design features

Following the pandemic and the closure of the restaurants where they used to showcase their wines, Julie and Valériane, the co-founders of the natural wine agency, Le vin dans les voiles (VDLV), felt the need to have a space that reflected their image. A multifunctional space, like a headquarters: a place to work, to organize team tastings, to receive clients and present them with new arrivals, and to occasionally welcome winemakers when they come to Montreal.

Photo credit: Olivier Blouin

With a growing team, thanks to the success of online sales over the past two years, the agency has acquired an 800-square-foot space that was converted into informal work areas using a variety of furniture. To complete the design of the space, VDLV called upon Dupont Blouin to design a tasting bar, the unifying and structuring element of the project. It includes a dining area, a display module for bottles, a storage space to hide the wine boxes, and a checkroom, all within a tight budget.

Office space, conference table
Photo credit: Olivier Blouin

Wine display
Photo credit: Olivier Blouin

Once through the door of the studio, located in the Grover building and nested in the Mercier-Hochelaga-Maisonneuve borough, the team wanted to feel like they were on vacation. Halfway between the tropical fresco on the entrance wall and the residential and convivial layout of the workstations, the architects created and installed refined and festive furniture that honors the quality products sold by the agency.

Custom-made wallpaper by artist Aurore Danielou
Photo credit: Olivier Blouin

Photo credit: Olivier Blouin

The design duo has created a tasting counter without seats, inspired by beach bars where people drink standing up, infusing an epicurean and bon vivant character into the space. On the other side of the column, the bar becomes a dining table with a cantilevered counter extension and circular footrest.

Wine tasting bar
Photo credit: Olivier Blouin

Photo credit: Olivier Blouin

In the background of the bar, an aqua-colored shelving unit displays the great vintages and new releases. A large velvet curtain, as silky as a rosé wine, hides a storage area and checkroom. Both functional and elegant, this element blends with the bar in green hues reminiscent of the lush vegetation of tropical jungles. The folds of fabric echo corrugated waves, used in hot countries for economic reasons. Chosen in a plastic version for a question of cost, once painted it blends with the original metal. This furniture has the particularity of being easily removable in anticipation of any future moves.

Wine tasting bar
Photo credit: Olivier Blouin

The tapestry created especially for Le vin dans les voiles is the work of artist Aurore Danielou, who illustrates a whimsical and exotic universe. Coloured in the image of the bright, natural wines served by the agency, this mural with its punchy and fresh accents is inspired by the colour scheme of the bar. In designing the flagship interior design element for VDLV's space, Dupont Blouin's proposal blends into the decor with panache, while keeping the richness of the language simple. With its aesthetic of dancing waves, like the robe of the wine, one could almost hear the sound of the sea, despite the snow outside.

About Dupont Blouin

Dupont Blouin is an architecture and design firm based in Montreal, created by the association of two complementary architects, Marie-Josée Dupont and Olivier Blouin: yin and yang, measure and deployment, cold and hot, eye and eye. Lovers of architecture, of course, and of nature, the architects appreciate pure lines, precise details, and organized and integrated systems. Specialized in the creation of custom projects, each detail is carefully thought out, each material is privileged for its durability, and each colour is combined for harmonious interiors and exceptional spaces.