RENOVATION OF A TRIPLEX, Plateau-Mont-Royal
Leaving New Traces on an Old Home
Major Interior Renovation - Interior Design - Custom & Semi-Custom Cabinets and Finishes
RENOVATION OF A TRIPLEX, Plateau-Mont-Royal
Leaving New Traces on an Old Home
Major Interior Renovation - Interior Design - Custom & Semi-Custom Cabinets and Finishes
LIEU | LOCATION :
Montréal, Québec, Canada
(Plateau-Mont-Royal)
PROJET PAR | PROJECT BY :
Jessica Gutwein
MANDAT | MANDATE :
planning – architectural design– technical drawings – sourcing – construction – custom installations (Designer’s home)
CONSTRUCTION :
by the Homeowners
ANNÉE | YEAR : 2003
SETTING
A triplex from 1910, divided into 3 apartments
The third floor apartment with original Victorian detailing
Rooms that speak to a bygone style of living
A series of small compartments linked along a corridor
Like a train following the rails of the long, narrow floor plan
At each end, a single view towards a different horizon
PLOT
Living in the top unit of their townhouse and renting out the lower two floors, a young couple sets up life in their first home, longing to carve out their own place in time.
The compartments are opened one to the other, a connected view stretching the length of the floor plate.
The altered elements bear the marks of the modern couple’s lifestyle, while maintaining historical details, adding the next layer to the story of the home.
DIAGRAM - ORIGINAL FLOOR PLAN
THE EXISTING PLAN
Without changing the location of any walls, the space is opened up to flow freely from one side of the plan to the other. Much of the existing plaster finishes are conserved and repaired.
THE SOCIAL SPACES
The once restrictive wall in the main room is dissolved into a structural colonnade wrapped in rich wood, opening up the space.
The light spills from new windows onto new beech hardwood floors, free to illuminate the breadth of the floorplan.
THE SERVICE SPACES
The kitchen hosts the overlapping events of cooking and laundry in an economy of space.
The required tools are stored within floor to ceiling blond birch and red stained cabinet walls. The dishes are visible behind frosted glass doors.
Meals are prepared on slabs of black slate. A sturdy maple chopping table provides easy disposal of trimmings by way of an integrated hole with removable metal bin below.
THE FLOORING
The custom cut linoleum tile flooring provides a rich and comfortable base for the families activities , the various actions traced out in a composition of lines and colours.
THE BATH
The bath is the most efficient compartment,
just large enough to contain its designated functions.
It is cinched together by horizontal bands of warm wood and cool tile.
THE ENTRY
The original cramped hall is expanded, the spaces free to flow through glass doors.
The stairwell wall is removed, inviting entry up from the door below.
The new entry corridor conceals a multitude of storage.
The low wall at the top of the stair houses racks of shoes within its depth.
A tall garderobe keeps watch over the coats.
THE PRIVATE SPACES
The bedroom stretches across the front of the house, looking out at the grand stadium in the distance.
Original decorative mouldings and panels wrap the space in the warmth of old memories.
An adjacent study buffers against the public spaces.