Situated in the town of Saint-Julie, the bowling lounge Complexe Julie Quilles recently received an update from Montreal’s Jean de Lessard. The award-winning designer (responsible for a number of Quebec restaurants and offices) re-energized the gaming complex’s bar area with a new partial-glass cube covered in bold, chromatic stripes reminiscent of Canadian abstract artist Guido Molinari. The retro colours in combination with the imitation-wood floor and custom-made geometric furniture lend the bar a sixties feel.
To appease the province’s Liquor Control Board laws, de Lessard worked with several constraints for the redesign, which took approximately six months. Gaming spaces, such as slot machines and pool tables, had to be concealed from passersby outside, so de Lessard installed vertical wood laths arranged in an irregular pattern, creating areas of opacity and permeability. Openwork partitions were also utilized around the pool-table area, as was as a blue velvet curtain encircling a smaller lounge area, forming a series of intimate, semi-transparent alcoves.
Complexe Julie Quilles is located at 210 Boulevard Armand-Frappier in Sainte-Julie, Quebec.