About us | LabNco

Our collaborative approach

Interdisciplinarity and collective intelligence.

Our integrated design approach maximizes collective intelligence.

We do not claim to know everything or to be experts in everything. This awareness of our limitations is our great strength at LabNco; it forces us to be rigorous, to listen, and be humble; furthermore; we integrate and cross-reference knowledge, expertise, and the most relevant data from the various stakeholders in a project, to have the most accurate understanding of the situation.

Our participatory approaches bring together (via committees or other groups) clients, often decision-makers or owners, with scientists and experts, as well as users, employees, local communities, and the general public (as required).

The committee formed will validate or invalidate our understanding of the issues or challenges on an ongoing basis during our processes. It will also validate or invalidate potential solutions proposed. Each committee is formed at the start of a mandate and will incorporate all relevant stakeholders and individuals for the duration of the mandate to ensure the success of the project.

01

Decision-makers
& owners

They understand and have knowledge of the organizational, logistical, and financial nature of situations and projects. They are our clients and the ones who will decide on the final verdict, but they are also often the most sensitive to the "big picture" that is drawn up with them in order to manage the risks and success of a project.

02

Scientists
& experts

They have detailed knowledge of the current state of scientific, academic, normative, and empirical knowledge and of the most relevant data to be taken into consideration in order to be in line with facts. Often, specialists provide an in-depth and detailed understanding of the issues, challenges, risks, or opportunities being faced, as well as the state of knowledge on the given subject.

03

Users, employees,
communities & the general public.

They have the knowledge of reality on the ground, they are the ones most in tune with the lived experience of a project. They are the ones to whom the projects are addressed (most of the time). They are therefore the main "experimenters" of our decisions, which is why their input is so important to achieve projects that have the expected effects on them.

04

LabNco. - Conductor of your
projects

Our role is to coordinate the various disciplines, knowledge, and expertise into a harmonious project. LabNco. is the expert "synthesizer" capable of vulgarizing everyone's messages and visions, establishing a dialogue between the different discourses, resolving the paradoxes and contradictions encountered, and generating the best proposals in a coherent whole. Our expertise is to develop and build a common vision to which all stakeholders will adhere and around which they will act, to articulate the interventions.

Our ecosystem of external collaborators.

A growing network of experts.

Frédéric Simard

B.Eng., Phd candidate in neuropsychology

Expert in Cognition & Technology

Frédéric trained as a computer systems engineer at ÉTS and pursued graduate studies in neurophysiology at McGill University.

David Tévan

Business strategist

Strategy, marketing & entrepreneurship expert

David has a master’s degree in business administration and is an experienced manager with a strong entrepreneurial streak. He has knowledge in business and market development, sales and marketing team management.

Benoit Giroussens

Business strategist

Expert in Business & Market Strategy

Benoit holds a master’s degree in Business Administration from HEC Montréal. He advises companies on strategy and marketing.

Amélie Cosse

Consultant in sustainable mobility

Expert in (pedestrian & transport)
Travel Simulation & Validation

After four years working on various residential, commercial, cultural and educational development projects at Momentum in the UK, Amélie moved to Montreal in April 2018 to establish Momentum's first international office.

Geneviève Leclerc

Impact Designer

Expert in social Impact's projection & validation

Geneviève has over 25 years of experience in conference management and consulting for organizations, and a career path that has taken her to over 20 countries.

Catherine Fontaine-Lavallée

M.Sc. Neurobiologist and science communicator.

Expert in science vulgarization

Catherine obtained a bachelor's degree in biology (animal physiology and neuroscience) from the University of Montpellier, France, and a master's degree in neurobiology from Laval University.

Courriel

Sébastien Bilodeau

Senior Architect

Architect with 20 years of experience

Sébastien has been a project manager at G.M. Architects Associates, since 2007 where he mainly assisted the construction management for the design and construction of the Vitam'Parc commercial, aquatic, and sports center in Neydens.

Vanessa Parent

Landscape architect

Landscape architect

Vanessa has studied architecture, interior design and garden design. She pays particular attention to the wholeness of a project and its feasibility.

Jean-François Gagnon

Senior Professional Architectural Technologist

Construction Expert

While studying psychology at the University of Sherbrooke, Jean-François' career path branched out into the world of audiovisual integration, home automation and lighting design, and this for nearly ten years.

Frank Raymond

3D Artist

Expert in Visualization

Trained as an Architectural Technician, Frank worked at STGM Architects with whom he founded FIXION3D. In 2014, he founded Symbiose Design with his associate Johanie Gariépy designer.

Our expertise, an in-depth knowledge of humankind.

An expertise acknowledged at both academic and professional levels.

In 2008, Nicolas Labrie became interested in the links between the built environment and human behavior, as well as the human brain. He gradually explored the subject, which has become a consuming passion of his. He devoted his master's degree and thesis to it, which was awarded best in his class. Over the years, he has acquired a vast amount and variety of knowledge on the subject which he has applied in his practice. In 2018, he was fortunate enough to have this expertise academically recognized by Laval University, who invited him to teach a one-semester (15 weeks) lecture course on the subject. The Human Aspects of Architecture course introduces students to the mutual influences that exist between humans and their built environment. This course introduces concepts and methods useful for the study of people-environment relationships and for a people-sensitive practice of architecture. It aims more specifically at understanding the fundamental notions related to the perception of the environment, behaviors in space, and life in society. It thus combines the philosophy of humanistic intervention with a scientific approach, in a mixture linking the design sciences (called "empirical"), the cognitive-behavioral sciences (called "hard"), and the socio-cultural sciences (called "social").

Informed and empathetic design

The Human Aspects of Architecture course also allowed Nicolas Labrie to convey his vision of what design should be; that is, a design that is both informed and empathetic. Informed design implies relying on the most valid knowledge and rigorous processes, notably those of science, and more precisely of the complexity sciences. Empathic design allows us to understand and consider the sensitive and subjective nature of people's experiences. It is therefore in this union of informed and empathic design that the greatest rigor of facts is combined with the greatest sensitivity to people, to create projects that are in line with reality.

Towards validated design

LabNco. is currently developing several partnerships. The first partnership is with RE-AK Technologies to validate the initial design hypotheses through real experience data. RE-AK develops technological solutions that measure and analyze people's emotions and cognitive state of mind in real-time. This partnership allows a neuroscientific approach for data collection during a project, and after, complementing traditional validation approaches such as "studies and surveys". A second partnership is with the firm #Meetforimpact to plan and validate social and memorial impacts (acceptability, virality, popularity, attractiveness, etc.). A third partnership is with the firm Momemtum Transport to plan and validate pedestrian and vehicular traffic flows. Finally, we also have partnerships with various business strategists to plan and validate the economic impact of projects. Thanks to all our valuable partners, we can ensure that projects are progressing in a continuously substantiated manner, validating final impacts and results, and thus ensuring their success.

Certifications

Weare WELL AP certified since 2020 -
Acertification ensuring the health of buildings' occupants.
‍
TheWELL Building Standard® is a performance-based system for measuring,certifying, and monitoring the characteristics of the built environment thatimpact human health and well-being through the air, water, food, light,fitness, comfort, and spirit.

WELLis managed and administered by the International WELL Building Institute(IWBI), a public benefit corporation whose mission is to improve human healthand well-being through the built environment.

WELLis based on a body of medical research that explores the link between buildingswhere we spend over 90% of our time, and the health and well-being of theiroccupants. WELL Certified ™ spaces and WELL Compliant ™ core and shelldevelopments can help create a built environment that improves nutrition, fitness,mood, and sleep patterns.

TheWELL Building Standard® is third-party certified by Green BusinessCertification Incorporation (GBCI), which administers the LEED CertificationProgram and the LEED Professional Accreditation Program.

Neuroarchitecture

Our great interest in the brain, human behavior, and science led us to start the practice of neuroarchitecture, but what is it?
‍
Neuroarchitecture stands at the intersection and meeting point of two distinct disciplines: neuroscience and architecture. This new approach leans on our growing knowledge of how the brain works and aims to explain our responses to all things architectural and of the built environment.

Our story

The founder tells you his journey.

Download resume

Nicolas Labrie

Founder - Architect

I started my career in 2004 in architectural offices as an architectural technician. I first participated in projects for various firms as a freelancer while quickly developing technical expertise that I have deepened over the years. This varied and demanding experience allowed me to rapidly become resourceful and autonomous in residential, institutional, cultural, corporate, and commercial projects.

Over the past few years, I have worked in widely recognized firms including L'Atelier Pierre Thibault; a famous Quebec starchitect of residential architecture, with several books to his credit around his work. Open-Form architecture; a young innovative startup focusing on formal explorations and parametric design. And finally, at LemayLab, the research, and development + innovation and branding lab of Lemay, currently the largest architecture firm in Quebec with nearly 400 employees worldwide and the 76th largest firm on the planet.
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As a result of these apprenticeships and being the son of a cabinetmaker, I now have a portfolio with projects of all sizes, from simple objects, to residential scale, public markets, the Olympic stadium, and the islands of Abu Dhabi.

Curious by nature, I am interested in innovation, research, and development, new practices, as well as new transdisciplinary fields the profession is gradually integrating: new technologies, 3D printing, digital tools, green building, integrated design, branding, participatory design, latest practices in urban planning such as "healthy urbanism," and in urban design such as tactical urbanism, etc.

My artistic side leads me to be interested in other creative fields such as industrial design, fashion design, graphic arts, woodworking, writing, event design, site installations, etc.

My scientific side makes me interested in research on human behavior: cognitive sciences and neurosciences, psychology, philosophy, ethology, anthropology, neurology, biology, sociology, etc. I frequently act as a jury, guest critic, or lecturer in universities and design competitions.

I was also a lecturer at Laval University's School of Architecture for the winter 2018 session, for the Human Aspects of Architecture course, a course connecting humans (their states and behaviors) and the built environment.

In short, I am a lucid dreamer; who knows how to combine great creativity and great rigor. I will know how to make your clouds land on earth and materialize your wildest dreams in the tangible; by feeding myself constraints, while combining pragmatism and power of synthesis.

Looking forward to designing together!

LabNco.

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