Maison des Erables

The proprietors of this typical duplex, located in the Rosemont neighbourhood of Montreal, wished to expand and refurbish their living areas without however increasing the existing building volume. Our proposed initial reflex was to repossess the upper floor of the duplex so as to convert it into a single-family house. (Cabin, cottage, shack, lodge).

Consequently, the clients were losing a portion of their revenue permitting them to reimburse the cost of the work. We therefore revised the initial concept and proposed to repossess only a portion of the upper floor – the double living room – that would house a bedroom, walk-in closet and bathroom for the paired owners. This made possible the refurbishment of a rentable 3 ½ (one bedroom) apartment on the upper floor.

As for the ground floor, it has been completely renovated so as to maximize the open and unobstructed space. The space was thus longitudinally divided into two subspaces permitting, on the one side, the conception of an open and vastly lit space (living, kitchen and dining areas) and, on the other, the erection of three precious wooden boxes which would house two bedrooms for the children and a service block (bathroom, laundry room, pantry and stairs). Accesses to the bathroom and laundry room, as well as to the staircases leading to the upper floor bedroom and basement, are located at the interstices separating the three volumes.

The interior space thusly creates varying “plateaux of privacy”, also shaping proximity and distance; opening and closure; sharing and retreat.

At the ground floor, the new layout is ergo traversed by a visual axis which, longitudinally oriented with the living area, guides the inhabitants throughout their movements, from the entrance to the terrace, from the bedrooms to the bathroom and vice versa. Vistas allow interior spaces to be projected outward so as to connect living spaces with the yard and street’s landscape.

Atelier Barda