Montreal‐based architecture studio APPAREIL Architecture, in collaboration with Catherine Gauthier, has converted a post‐war residence into two twin houses with dark brick facade in Montréal, Canada.

Called Maison Soeur, the house is located in Montreal’s 1950s working-class neighbourhood and the client Catherine Gauthier, being an architect herself, commissioned APPAREIL Architecture to expand and refurbish of a veterans’ home in Verdun by respecting the site's architectural heritage.

The concept imagined by the firm developed around the theme of duality, recreating the existing volume through a "sister house", or Maison Soeur, that stands out through its clean signature. 

The stakes consisted in highlighting the volume characteristic to this type of building, while giving it a second life that better responded to the new owners’ need for space. The extension thus presents itself as a reinterpretation of the existing structure, through its silhouette and its physicality. The roof’s double-sloped archetype is reproduced, as is its masonry envelope.

In the new extension, openings and luminosity are emphasized by generous windows. The interior spaces offer distinct layouts, favoring connexions between the rooms and the garden. The layout ensures abundant light throughout the interior spaces, whose pale hues contrast with the dark brick of the new facades.

Pragmatic, the plan maximizes liveable areas by reducing traffic and favoring interplays of transparency that reinforce the connection between interior and exterior. 

Between the old and new volumes, a glass and grating footbridge subtly emphasizes the passage between the two eras. At the heart of the extension, the kitchen stands out by its luminosity and its direct relationship with a large adjoining garden.

"This project was designed to adapt to numerous construction constraints, all while maintaining a strong distinction between the volumes and an abundant entry of light," said APPAREIL Architecture. 

"Born from a collaborative process, the Maison Soeur preserves its recent heritage through a somber and pragmatic architecture," the office added.

Project facts

Creator/architect: APPAREIL Architecture in collaboration with Catherine Gauthier
General contractor: GCT Construction
Ceramist: Marie‐Ève Dompierre

All images © Félix Michaud

All drawings © APPAREIL Architecture

> via APPAREIL Architecture