Live/Work Residence, Montréal House, Mile-Ex Residential Development, Canadian Home

Live/Work House, Mile-Ex

Montréal Residential Property, Little Italy, Canada – design by NatureHumaine

12 Dec 2013

Alexandra Residence

Design: NatureHumaine

Location: Mile-Ex district, Montréal, Quebec, Canada

English text (scroll down for French):

Alexandra Residence Montréal

Alexandra Residence Montréal
photo : Adrien Williams

The client’s priority was to maximize the natural light in their new live/work house in Montreal’s Mile-Ex district. This was made challenging by the east-west orientation of the infill lot. However, our design fills even the core of the house with light through the implementation of a 2 storey light-well which runs the length of the southern side of the house. Additional light is reflected into this light-well by the client’s office space – a white volume that sits atop the northern edge light-well. Spaces on the second storey also benefit from the light well’s luminosity; the walls adjacent to it are fully glazed and a floor to ceiling piece of frosted glass brings a very soft light into the bathroom.

Alexandra Residence Montréal

The expressive back facade of the house is defined by the angular geometry of the floating steel box. The front facade, however, is composed primarily of bricks to conform with the heritage character of the neighbourhood. Two disjuncted apertures break up the brick façade and are lined in aluminum. As only one side of the brick was glazed, a random mix of forward and backward facing bricks were laid to create a more dynamic façade.

Alexandra Residence Montréal

Alexandra Residence Montréal – Building Information

Type: Live/work house
Intervention: new construction
Location: Alexandra Ave, Montreal, Canada
Area: 3,300 sqft
Completion Date: 2013
Photo credit: Adrien Williams

Alexandra Residence Montréal

French text:

La demande principale du client pour ce projet était de concevoir la maison en fonction de la luminosité en y intégrant son lieu de travail. Situé dans le secteur du Mile-Ex le terrain mitoyen est orienté est-ouest. Le défi consistait donc à capturer la lumière naturelle venant du sud. La solution fut de créer une faille verticale sur la pleine hauteur de la maison côté sud chapeauté d’une généreuse verrière. Une mezzanine au toit est décalée pour permettre un apport maximal de clarté en surplomb au niveau des espaces de vie.

Alexandra Residence

Une lumière tamisée vient éclairer en second jour la salle de bain de l’étage située au cœur de la maison. Une « boîte blanche » suspendue et décalée par rapport au mur inférieur caractérise la volumétrie arrière de la maison. Son revêtement blanc se prolonge à l’intérieur pour agir en tant que surface réflective. Pour des raisons d’intégration patrimoniales la façade côté rue composée à 80% de brique est ponctuée de deux grandes ouvertures cintrées d’aluminium.

Alexandra Residence Montréal

Alexandra Residence – Fiche Technique

Type: Résidence unifamiliale + bureau
Intervention: Nouvelle construction
Superficie: 3300 pi2
Localisation: Ave. Alexandra, Montréal, QC
Date: 2013

Photos: Adrien Williams


Alexandra Residence Montréal images / information from NatureHumaine

NatureHumaine

Location: Ave. Alexandra, Montréal, Quebec, Canada

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