Located in the high-density built environment of Montreal’s Plateau neighbourhood, La Doyenne by naturehumaine Architects is a renovation and expansion of a Victorian house dating from 1887. Intimately integrated into its surroundings and ensuring living space privacy, the project features a continuous interior spatiality over four storeys that accentuates interactions between different parts of the house.
While allowing for plentiful natural light via skylights and stairwells, the exterior envelope is otherwise designed to be largely closed and introverted. The upper volume is clad with aluminium product Longboard. An exception is a screen of steel blades that shields the front bedroom window.
The project’s unique spatial quality comes from the integration of multiple floor levels over four storeys. One enters the house through the living room, which is situated half a storey above street level, while the backyard is slightly recessed from this height into the garden. This play with heights creates an offset in relation to the neighbouring terraced houses while allowing for the interior proportions of the kitchen and dining areas to be experienced as double volume spaces.
The house’s original staircase at the entry is preserved and celebrated as a centrepiece. Two additional staircases, one connecting the dining room to the living room and a second spiral stair leading to a roof terrace, are contained within a solid balustrade coloured a striking imperial green.
Complementing the green colour, oak floors and wooden furniture refer to historic homes of the neighbourhood while raw materials such as stainless steel countertops in kitchens and bathrooms bring a contemporary contrast.
