Montreal designers turn pews into design objects to mark convent's conversion

Curatorial collective Nouveau Milieu has commissioned design objects repurposed from the pews of an adjacent church.

As part of a larger reuse project of a former convent in Montreal, curatorial collective Nouveau Milieu has commissioned design objects repurposed from the pews, which were showcased during Montreal Design Week.

Fourteen designers took part in the Matière Sensible exhibition, crafting furniture, decor, and conceptual works from reused pews from the Convent of the Franciscans in Montreal's Rosemont-East neighbourhood, where the works were exhibited.

Montreal Convent at night — A convent in Montreal has converted to an arts space where a recent exhibition was staged

The project was sparked by local non-profit Entremise's purchase of the convent. Entremise, working with material consultants Surcy, began to organise and sell aspects of the property, such as furniture, millwork and even parts of the structure like rare greystone, to fund arts initiatives.

"The goal is to give a new life to this magnificent piece of local heritage, brimming with memories, and transform it into a mixed-use and socially inclusive project, an act of redevelopment that would guarantee an affordable, permanent place for the local community in perpetuity," said Entremise.

Pews at Convent — The original pews from the convent were the material for the Matière Sensible exhibition

From here, Entremise tasked Nouveau Milieu with curating an exhibition where designers used the property's red oak pews to create new works.

Arranged in the enclosed, vaulted cloisters of the convent, which was built in the early 20th century, the works contrast with the bright coloured flooring, highlighting the material quality of the red oak.

Some of the pieces saw the wood used with the marks of decades of use in worship, while other designers refinished the wood and transformed the material into pieces far away from the original form.

Exhibition in Montreal — Designers took the wood from the pews and converted it into new design pieces

Examples of designs where makers only made small changes were reformatted seats by Samuel Chevalier and a desk by Giuseppe Arcuri. In these pieces, many of the former cuts and shapes of the wood pieces were preserved and rearranged in clever ways, like puzzle pieces.

Designer Jean-François Gagnon created a desk, re-milling the wood to create a sleek form, showing the potential for reuse. Zelie Delespierre also remilled the wood, creating lathed elements for a multi-piece side table. Alex Lazarey created a paravent guided by the shape of the wood.

Wood pew furniture montreal — Émilie Godin created a floor lamp using sheet music

Some designers took the opportunity to reframe the pieces as devotional objects. Designer Shahneli Mejika covered a hexagonal base made of wood with a leather top meant to hold incense.

Some of the designers chose to stain or otherwise augment the wood. Millor Studio converted the wood into stained lamps, while Igor Zigor charred the wood for an expressive stool.

Montreal design furniture — The designers created devotional and functional objects

Other lighting designs included a series of floor lamps and sconces by Trousseau.

Some designers chose to combine the devotional with lighting. Jeremy Le Chatelier took small pieces of wood, stacking them in slats into a pyramid with a light at the bottom. Near the top, Le Chatelier included small models of the original pews, paying homage.

One of the most impressive designs, combining the conceptual with the functional, was a floor lamp by Émilie Godin, who bent the wood so that vertical slats became supports, Between the slats stretched musical sheet paper were used shades for an interior light.

Jérémie Dussault-Lefebvre and Sébastien Roy tested the strength of the material, creating and putting weight on rafters to show potential for reuse in structural applications.