Zen In The City

Zen In The City

This house for two professionals in the Old Mill neighbourhood of Montreal is a nuanced response to a design brief specifying a one-bedroom home that prioritizes the display of the clients’ extensive contemporary art collection. Occupying a gently sloping site featuring heritage black oak trees, the house is fully engaged with nature through a finessed architectural and landscape strategy. Clad in pale concrete masonry accented by aluminum frames and louvres, it forms a neutral backdrop against which the seasonal dynamic registers.

Dramatic interior spatial qualities are most apparent in the vast double-height gallery atrium, naturally lit from a series of three skylights forming the striking sawtooth roof profile above. This cleft, running parallel to the stairwell, connects the first and second floors, creating an intriguing sectional dynamic further enhanced by the indirect light filtering in from the skylights. The interior core of the home and the artworks on display are softly illuminated, minimizing the risk of UV damage.