Open to nature… in the city

After a youth at the water’s edge, a resident of Rimouski followed his lover to Montreal. Atelier Pierre Thibault has imagined for them a house open to the nature of the Plateau-Mont-Royal by hoisting life up high, on the roof, where there is calm and the gaze can be lost on the horizon.

Muriel Francoise
special cooperation

In the basement of his house clad in wood and glass, Jonathan has got into the habit of riding his bike in front of a landscape that scrolls on a screen. The love of sport and great escapes put Julie on his path a few years ago when he was living in Rimouski. The Montrealer did not plan to move away from the metropolis. Never mind, Jonathan was curious to discover the charms of everyday city life. At the end of a successful acclimatization, in a condo near La Fontaine Park, he entrusted Atelier Pierre Thibault with the task of imagining the house that would see their little Alex, 4, grow up, on a former parking lot in the Plateau- Mont Royal.

For this rare residential project in urban fabric (the 4^e in 34 years of career), the architect Pierre Thibault endeavored to bring the young family closer to nature by means of enlightened choices. The Montreal environment is at first glance much grayer than that of the Maritimes. “I had to compete with a vast horizon, sunsets… The challenge was great! “, he notes.

divine ascension

From the street, the environment created with his team is barely perceptible. Its slightly ocher brick facade, in harmony with the colors of the neighborhood, pierced with wooden alcoves blends into the decor. It is only once the door is crossed that the encounter with nature takes place, in a confidential way, thanks to an interior courtyard open to the three floors of the house. A birch tree, still a little frail, stands there in the middle of ferns and flat stones, reminiscent of the footsteps of the Japanese gardens that the architect has surveyed many times.

From there, the light disperses through the warmed space of light wood from the floor to the built-in furniture in Kastella branded oak.

A majestic staircase erected in the heart of the house and overlooked by a large skylight invites you to reach the top where life unfolds. This sculptural room with generous volumes is one of the rare wishes of Jonathan and Julie expressed to the architect for their future living environment. “We wanted something unique. A perfect staircase seen from above or below,” says Jonathan. The masterpiece separates the parents’ quarter from that of little Alex.

Perched on a roof

It is on the third floor, set back from the street to comply with municipal regulations, that the family has become accustomed to starting and ending their days, in the sky. On a kind of large plateau or mezzanine offering a view of the neighbors’ gardens and rooftops, the canopy of trees and Mount Royal in the distance. “This opening to the outside ‘expands’ this modestly sized space, observes Pierre Thibault. We realized that the roofs were not used very much in the city”, continues the one who climbed on neighboring roofs to admire the view beforehand.

Jonathan, Julie and Alex have made this privileged observatory, bringing together kitchen, dining room, living room, as well as terraces and hanging gardens, their favorite terrain. “We come here every evening, around 7 p.m. We play in the spa water, take a shower on the terrace, watch Master key in the living room by the fireplace, then let’s put Alex to bed,” says Jonathan.

Alex is also very lucky to have his paternal grandmother with him. During the project, her parents encouraged Louise to leave Rimouski to enjoy her grandson more. Which she ended up accepting.

The child joins the neighboring house, which has been reserved for him, via the Zen garden. With small steps.