How to use the constraints of urban planning rules as a creative engine and think “outside the box” to redefine “the box”? The La Shed Architecture team took part in the exercise with this house in Pointe-Saint-Charles – vast, intimate and yet bathed in light –, which received a 2022 Award of Excellence in Architecture for its innovative vision of urban residence.
Posted at 12:00 p.m.
Maxim Regimbal-Éthier dreamed of a large single-family house and a lot in town with a swimming pool: the advantages of the suburbs near the heart of the city where he practices medicine and goes by bike. Rather than looking for the residential pearl, he bet on craftsmen. The Shed was thus able to accompany him from the beginning of the project.
PHOTO FRANÇOIS ROY, THE PRESS
Maxim Regimbal-Éthier in front of his home, whose white brick facade revisits the carriage entrances that give color to the neighborhood
Together, they first defined the target: an area located near the Atwater market and the Lachine Canal. The next step was to knock on doors to find a seller, a seduction operation that quickly resulted in the purchase of a single-family home with adjacent land, then used as a parking lot. “An old lady was just looking to sell,” says Maxim Regimbal-Éthier. It was a perfect in-between that made it possible to live in one house while the other was being built next door. »
The client was aiming for three floors. At the time of drawing the first sketches, a new regulation of the borough came to limit the construction to two. “It encouraged us to dissect the regulations to make an innovative project, specifies the architect Sébastien Parent, one of the co-founders of La Shed. There is no derogation on this project which is 100% regulatory. We simply modulated the plans by taking advantage of the regulations rather than limiting ourselves to applying them. »
PHOTO MAXIME BROUILLET, PROVIDED BY LA SHED
Standing in the open space on the ground floor, the gaze falls at the height of the vegetation. Sitting in the living room, one has a feeling of intimacy despite a glazed wall two stories high.
Four feet underground, a floor is considered a basement.
The architects decided to bury the ground floor. “In this way, we managed to make a three-storey house – five taking into account the half-storeys – which is lower than normal, explains Sébastien Parent. And rather than putting less used rooms in the basement, we put the living spaces there. »
Revisit the volumes
From the outside, the building remains relatively sober, seeking to integrate into its environment rather than to stand out. Its 25-foot storefront – a standard width in the city – is clad in bricks that match those of the house next door. A large opening imitates the carriage doors typical of the old buildings of Pointe-Saint-Charles where one once entered on horseback from the street in the absence of an alley.
It is once through the door that the distinct character of the place truly asserts itself.
PHOTO MAXIME BROUILLET, PROVIDED BY LA SHED
Separated from the rest of the house by the staircase which acts as a privacy screen, the entrance immediately reveals the imposing tone and the raw character of the place.
From the entrance landing, the visitor descends the few steps that lead to the “ground floor”. The concrete foundations, voluntarily exposed, support the architectural gesture: an accent which continues on the backsplash of the kitchen to the garden. “As the living room is lower, you are less aware that there are buildings all around. Even if there are large windows at the back, it gives an enveloping effect and a very private aspect to the room”, argues the architect.
The space seems vast. However, the parts adopt standard dimensions. Ceilings are no more than 8′ high on the upper floors and 9′ on the ground floor. This impression of scale is rendered by full-height openings, low and refined furniture, a mezzanine which overlooks the living room and numerous openings which cleverly modulate the light throughout the day. And this is one of the most striking successes of the project: natural lighting that fuses without the places ever being deprived of their private aspect.
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PHOTO MAXIME BROUILLET, PROVIDED BY LA SHED
The kitchen disappears for the benefit of the whole and is bathed in light coming from the fault. “I like to cook, but I hate to see a cluttered kitchen. A scullery has therefore been planned to put everything that can break the eye,” says Maxim Regimbal-Éthier.
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PHOTO MAXIME BROUILLET, PROVIDED BY LA SHED
The wrought iron staircase leads from the real basement – a half-landing which accommodates the bathroom and that of the machines – to the top floor where the master suite has been fitted out.
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PHOTO MAXIME BROUILLET, PROVIDED BY LA SHED
The concrete rail continues its movement from the interior to the garden.
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PHOTO MAXIME BROUILLET, PROVIDED BY LA SHED
An opening made in the foundation shows the terrace like a painting.
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PHOTO MAXIME BROUILLET, PROVIDED BY LA SHED
The Shed designed the entire layout, including the landscaping. The garden was laid out with the collaboration of Friche Atelier for the planning of plant beds and natural stone paths.
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PHOTO MAXIME BROUILLET, PROVIDED BY LA SHED
The original land was redistributed between the two houses. The owner has kept a strip over the entire width, which can accommodate a 30 ft. long swimming pool.
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PHOTO MAXIME BROUILLET, PROVIDED BY LA SHED
In the bathroom, the impression of space continues, reinforced by a sleek vanity unit and an Italian shower without a screen or base.
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PHOTO MAXIME BROUILLET, PROVIDED BY LA SHED
The master bedroom has a large terrace where the bedrooms often end. parties swimming pool in order to enjoy the daylight for longer.
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Light at the zenith
At any time of the day, a large opening on three floors brings light into the heart of the house through two large skylights. The staircase, adjacent to this gap, acts as a buffer zone between the street and the interior and creates a screen of privacy. Two floating bridges are added to it, which unite the front and rear parts of the building. From this transition space, regardless of the floor, all you have to do is gaze up or down to reveal the layout of the premises. Looking horizontally, the exterior landscape is more revealed, made up of pretty cornices and foliage.
“When I looked on the plans, I had difficulty imagining this area which seemed narrow. Ultimately, I think it’s the most spectacular space in the house”, comments the occupant of the premises, who gave carte blanche to the designers by granting them his full confidence.
The rift has since revealed other attractions. Whether it bursts from the roof or the front facade, the light projects changing patterns on the walls according to the hours and the seasons. Filtered through the acrylic panels of the staircase, it also reveals Chinese shadows and an aura of mystery. With such a play of light and worked volumes, the decor calls for sobriety. Here, the architecture occupies the space without any more frills.