Parameters
This project represents the built outcome of a winning proposal from the national architectural competition "Art of Living in the City". Held in 1991, this competition aimed to promote the downtown area and the evolution of new housing modes better adapted to today's needs. This project, in the "first-time homebuyer family" category, is located on a lot in Little Burgundy, in Montreal. In response to the neighborhood and the competition guidelines, the didactic dimensions of the project were essential in its development. Accessible in its interpretation, the finished product is well accepted by the people of the neighborhood and testifies to the rigor of the approach.
Sector and references
Having undergone a vast reconstruction, the sector adjacent to the site needed a very particular gesture of conciliation. Through this project, the past and the present, or the collective and the individual, meet. Thus the traditional architecture of the small Coursol street is reborn updated. This project is therefore presented as a traditional head of block with a main rectilinear and modest facade whose expression is a purification of the town house. A curved roof distinguishes the project and reinforces the importance of the boulevard. Each of the ten units has its own address and doors. The public façade of Georges-Vanier Boulevard is juxtaposed with the more fragmented and intimate rear façade. This rear façade, on the sunny side of the building, offers the exterior room so sought after by city dwellers. On the formal level, it reminds us of the modern architecture of the 30s. It is also in this spirit that the interiors were redesigned.
A new duplex
The examination of the qualities and limitations of traditional Montreal housing led to the development of this duplex typology. Two very different dwellings are placed on top of each other. A two-storey cottage sits on top of a more modest square-shaped dwelling. The volumes are parallel to the street and facilitate sunlight and ventilation. Each unit has its own front and back door. Each interior is extended by a clearly delineated terrace or small courtyard. These outdoor living spaces allow for openness and identification with the immediate neighbourhood. They open onto a common sidewalk that runs the length of the rear lot.
Reversals
The building does not "turn" the corner - the side facades are straightforward and simply articulated. They give way in profile to provide a face that sets the project apart in the neighborhood. Commentary on the art of situating a project in a whole and opening it up to the interior of the block, they also give the key to the project in plan.
(From competitor's text)
(Unofficial automated translation)
The non-traditional shape of the housing unit allows for the use of the space over its width, with a double orientation for maximum sunlight and ventilation.
The volume division at the rear ensures privacy for everyone with easily appropriated terraces and private yards leading to a common landscaped pathway,
The building does not "turn the corner" - its lateral facades are clean and elegant with a curved roof whose profile characterizes the project.
The main façade has elements that recall the traditional dwellings of the St-Henri district.
(From jury comments)
(Unofficial automated translation)
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