A building where everyone lives less at home? This is the bet taken up by two Montreal architects, in love with beautiful common spaces that inspire rapprochement.
This commitment to sharing and community life is felt from the first steps in the Milhaus1, located very close to the new MIL campus of the University of Montreal (UdeM), in Outremont: instead of the usual lobby impersonal entrance, there is a shared workspace bathed in the rays of the sun, thanks to the four completely glazed walls.
PHOTO MARCO CAMPANOZZI, THE PRESS
The architect Sergio Morales poses in front of the co-working space, placed in the center of the luminous trench.
Seated at large wooden tables, perfect for individual or team work, residents work comfortably on their laptops, headphones screwed to their ears, as if they were in a public library.
Before their eyes spreads out a large garden placed in the center of the building, at the intersection of common spaces, such as a gymnasium, a community kitchen and, soon, shops, such as a café or a sandwich shop.
An ingenious luminous trench, made of transparent partitions and large windowed walls, also allows you to stay in touch with the animation of avenue Thérèse-Lavoie-Roux.
PHOTO PROVIDED BY CHEVALIER MORALES
The luminous trench that connects the interior garden to the avenue, passing through the entrance hall and a co-working space, is the work of the architectural firm Chevalier Morales.
In short, all the reasons seem good to leave its nest. This impression is not fortuitous, confirms the architect Sergio Morales, because the Milhaus complex – made up of three separate buildings – is part of the trend of reducing the size of apartments in favor of collective spaces.
“It’s an evolution like we experienced in our workplaces where, at a certain time, everyone had their office closed. Today, workspaces are open; everyone has access to a wealth of common spaces,” notes Mr. Morales, who signs this project with his partner Stephan Chevalier.
“This transformation [de l’immeuble résidentiel] seems a good thing to me, because it allows people to come out of isolation and live in a community”, adds the architect, whose team has won many awards for its design of public buildings such as theatres, libraries and schools.
“It’s our first private project,” he says with a smile, standing in the entrance hall open to the city.
PHOTO GUILLAUME SIMONEAU, PROVIDED BY CHEVALIER MORALES
Getting out of isolation and living in community, this is the objective pursued for the Milhaus complex.
Industrial heritage
Doing everything to create a neighborhood life in this fragment of the city, which emerged from the lands of the former Canadian Pacific railroad yard, is precisely the priority of the Outremont borough.
The aim of municipal planners is clear, says Mr. Morales: the architecture of the new district must respect the height of the old buildings in the surroundings, while creating an urban density likely to create a spirit of community. “In this regard, European models are naturally evoked,” notes the Montreal architect, who also teaches at the University of Montreal.
PHOTO GUILLAUME SIMONEAU, PROVIDED BY CHEVALIER MORALES
The Milhaus complex is part of the desire to create a neighborhood life in this industrial sector.
In cities like Paris, Barcelona or Bordeaux, six-storey buildings provide optimal density to bring local shops and to create a lively neighborhood on a human scale. We can therefore learn from their experiences.
Architect Sergio Morales
This is how the architects Morales and Chevalier imagined three low buildings, built as close as possible to the sidewalk to densify the space, as in the old streets. At the same time, this approach has made it possible to recover the usual grassy surroundings “which do not seem to belong to anyone and which are not maintained by anyone” of residential towers.
“We took over all that space to concentrate it in the interior gardens and then articulate the collective spaces all around. Basically, this project was made concrete by its voids,” explains Mr. Morales.
When construction is complete, the complex’s 700 units will accommodate a population of some 2,000 people.
PHOTO GUILLAUME SIMONEAU, PROVIDED BY CHEVALIER MORALES
The railway history of the place can be guessed in the design of the building and the decorative elements.
Railway history
The borough authorities are seeking to create a “new Outremont”, by focusing on materials such as steel, concrete and glass, in order to integrate the UdeM campus into the landscape, believes Mr. Morals.
Nevertheless, the two Montreal architects wanted to recall the rich railway memory of the place.
Thus, the horizontal white projections which run along the facades and which mark the level of the boards of the Milhaus complex are inspired by the industrial construction techniques of the time, characterized in particular by the Van Horne warehouse.
“At the time, we built by pouring the slabs and the columns, and then filling the spaces with something that was not expensive. So we had fun with this language, ”says Sergio Morales.
Decorative elements, such as atmospheric steel tubs, also evoke the railways of yesteryear. “This steel that rusts and that rust protects, it has been used a lot in industry for its durability. We recovered these materials and these patterns. »
The choice of neutral colors also stands out for its sobriety and modesty. “We always say to ourselves that the color of a project comes with the people, their objects, the greenery, etc. You create a discrete canvas on which life can take hold,” says Morales.