Montreal House

This home is the re-imagination of how a house could be conceived and constructed, while still respecting its established surroundings. The clients envisioned a series of active and passive recreational spaces for their young family. This is manifested into a continuous and seamless series of living spaces supporting free communication and interaction. As a generator of privacy and expression, a folded carapace roof is wrapped around the formal programme of the house, simultaneously shielding it from encroaching site conditions to the east and opening the volume of the living spaces to the western courtyard. East-facing bedrooms puncture the protective carapace to catch the morning sun and acknowledge the neighbours. The house is honest in its expression of structure and material, featuring raw steel structure, exposed cast-in place concrete walls and floors, ever-changing Corten steel cladding, and exposed CLT roof panels. The sculptural fireplace is clad inside and outside in Corten steel which elegantly shows the effects of the weathering on the material as an expression of time. Structure is celebrated as an interior design element, which is atypical of a standard wood-frame home which conceals structure. To accommodate the wrapping steel carapace roof, structural steel beams are radially splayed to form the inner programmatic volumes in an expressive and faceted manner while ensuring the interior spaces remain breathable and continuous.