A Vivid Dive into the DNA of a Quebec Studio with International Reach

FRAME has released "Opposites Attract: ACDF au fil des contrastes", a monograph that departs from conventional architectural publishing. Instead of glossy showcases, the book unfolds as a series of candid conversations between ACDF co-founder Maxime Frappier and Quebec editor François-Luc Giraldeau. Blending essay, documentary, and journalistic investigation, it offers an intimate portrait of a studio that has become one of Canada’s most distinctive architectural voices.

Cover
Photo credit: FRAME

Photo of a double-page spread - introduction
Photo credit: FRAME

Photo of a double-page spread
Photo credit: FRAME

The narrative charts ACDF’s trajectory—its turning points, mentorships, landmark projects, and even its hesitations—revealing the firm’s collective and collaborative creative process. While the book follows Frappier’s voice, it avoids hero worship, instead presenting architecture as a living process born of teamwork, dialogue, and context.

Photo of a double-page spread, St-Germain, St-Hubert
Photo credit: FRAME - Marc Cramer (project)

Photo of a double-page spread - Condos Villeneuve, Montreal
Photo credit: FRAME - Adrien Williams

Photo of a double-page spread - Lighstpeed Head office construction site
Photo credit: FRAME

Grounded in Montreal yet internationally active, ACDF emerges as a practice defined by contrasts: discipline and freedom, intuition and method, local roots and global reach. Constraints—financial, technical, or cultural—are not barriers but catalysts for innovation. The firm embraces them as opportunities to “do more with less,” producing architecture that is at once restrained and powerful, pragmatic and poetic.

Photo of a double-page spread - Jewellery Bank tower, Ho Chi Minh Vietnam
Photo credit: FRAME

Photo of a double-page spread - Diane Dufresne art centre, Repentigny
Photo credit: FRAME - Adrien Williams

Photo of a double-page spread - The Pacific by Grosvenor Vancouver
Photo credit: FRAME

This intentional frugality, often tied to modest budgets, reflects a cultural sensitivity that honors local history while pushing toward sustainable futures. ACDF’s projects seek to enrich collective life through responsible resource use, innovative building methods, and designs where efficiency, beauty, and meaning remain inseparable.

Photo of a double-page spread - Monville Hotel, Montreal
Photo credit: FRAME - Adrien Williams (project)

Photo of a double-page spread - Apple tree house, Saint-Donat
Photo credit: FRAME - Adrien Williams (project)

Photo of a double-page spread - Link, Montreal
Photo credit: FRAME - Adrien Williams (project)

At a time of mounting environmental and social challenges, "Opposites Attract" frames ACDF’s work as both responsive and forward-looking. The firm’s dual perspective—anchored in history yet open to experimentation—nourishes a practice that values relevance and conscience as much as form and aesthetics.

Ultimately, the book positions ACDF not simply as a maker of buildings but as a mediator of contradictions, shaping spaces where opposites coexist productively. It invites readers to see architecture not as static objects but as evolving, collective journeys shaped by collaboration, iteration, and human experience.

ACDF Architecture

With a portfolio of ambitious and design-savvy commercial, residential, hospitality, interior, and master planning projects, ACDF is recognized as one of Canada’s most forward-thinking architecture firms. Under the direction of Maxime-Alexis Frappier, Joan Renaud, and Etienne Laplante Courchesne, the firm’s harmonious designs of large-scale projects have received numerous awards and accolades in recognition of their progressive approach to a new generation of meaningful and impactful buildings.