Chevalier Morales

As a finalist in the architectural competition for the design of the 7 Doigts de la main creation and production centre, Chevalier Morales proposed a bold and conscious design. It pays homage to the site's layered history as home to the former Eckers Brewery and the Just for Laughs Museum while reflecting the collective's contemporary spirit and creative process. Conceived as a bridge between memory and creation, the project seeks to embody the world of modern circus through its architecture.

Two large skylights and substantial structural lintels were integrated into the tower to enhance spatial flow and animate the building's core, creating a sense of openness and a generous visual connection to the training studio. In this tower, a helical staircase leads to the roof, while its original façade is replaced by a luminous, layered surface - a glowing patchwork of light and material. This new façade, featuring a delicate lattice, a fully transparent curtain wall, and panels of brass, corten steel, and tinted or translucent glass, is a symbolic tribute to the original structure.

The striking glass canopy, the cabaret space, and select guardrails - bearing the distinctive signature of Luc Laporte's museum design - were carefully preserved. Crafted metalwork, theatrical spatial compositions, abundant and shifting natural light, and a rich, expressive material palette form the foundation of the building's renewed identity - honouring its essence while reimagining its future.