Birch residence
The Birch residence is part of an early 20th-century development in the town of Saint- Lambert, Québec. The original building, with its generous architecture, featured ornamental woodwork and evoked the domestic elegance of the last century. However, the design, with its partitioned rooms, conflicted with contemporary living. The aim was to create fluid, uncluttered spaces that connect to the yard, addressing previous design shortcomings. A compact volume was also built at the rear to house the kitchen. The new interior layout is organized in two main axes: services and circulation, and living spaces. The kitchen is now the focal point, promoting a natural flow between the ground floor and the exterior. The house's features are reinterpreted with contemporary touches, such as stained wood veneers, trim work, larger openings, new views toward the garden. The material palette blends the warmth of wood with the coolness of concrete. A prism of masonry, echoing the original materiality, the volume establishes a formal contrast with the turn-of-the-century building. At once alien and familiar, the extension stands out without confronting.
The house, facing a park and near a school, is close to the historic heart of the village. This area, now a quiet residential neighborhood, is characteristic of the suburban landscape that attracted large numbers of Montrealers, with its picturesque architecture and extensive tree cover. On the outside of the original building, a red combed brick cladding and a traditional roof of galvanized standing seam sheet metal envelop the house, while a wide wooden gallery invites the visitor in. Inside, hard wood floors, trimwork and ornamental moldings typical of the period transport us to the domestic elegance of the last century. This period charm was, however, accompanied by frictions between a design composed of partitioned rooms and tangled circulations, and the lifestyle of a contemporary family.
Without losing the character of this residence, the challenge was to respect the existing structure by emphasizing its qualities, while carrying out well-balanced interventions to adapt the building to today's wishes and needs. In attempting
to correct certain anomalies of previous interventions, the aim was more specifically to offer spaces that were fluid, luminous, uncluttered, spacious and open onto the yard. In addition to the work carried out on the original building,
a compact volume was built towards the rear of the property, in the shade of the garden, to accommodate a kitchen.
The new layout establishes two main axes on the first floor: on the one hand, an axis for services and circulation, and on the other, an axis housing a series of living spaces. The original entrance door leads into a vestibule, which then opens onto the hall, where the historic thresholds have been resized to allow visual continuity towards the verdant courtyard and the new rear access. This circulation axis links the serving spaces and accommodates a multifunctional room, used
as a games room for family entertainment. The new secondary entrance incorporates a closet and a banquette, in response to contemporary demands for functionality and the lack of storage space in the original ground-floor configuration. The main living areas, located on the second axis, are arranged in an enfilade, comprising from front to back: a living room, a dining room, a kitchen and a terrace. In this sense, and in response to the residents' wishes, the kitchen no longer belongs to the service areas, but becomes a proper living space at the heart of family activities. The two axes are connected at specific locations, to ensure spatial fluidity without compromising the tranquility of each space.
Changing the interior composition creates a core around which daily activities revolve. Once isolated, the new kitchen is now the focal point, providing a natural flow and connection between the ground-floor rooms and the outside. Serving as the axis of the kitchen's organization, the island is both assertive in its monumentality and light in its tectonics.
In respect to the already intimate character of the upper floor, interventions here are minimal. These include restoring original components such as hard wood floors, moldings and windows, and reorganizing certain openings to optimize circulation.
In the new annex, the characteristics of the century-old house are reinterpreted in a contemporary way. For example, the stained wood veneer and the proportion of the baseboards allude to the historic building. Small paned windows now give way to large corner openings, bathing the interior spaces in natural light and offering framed views of the garden from the existing ground-floor rooms. With a palette of materials inspired by the original aesthetic, the interiors play on the inherent contrasts between the warmth of wood and the coldness of concrete; between the subtlety of oak and the grit of sintered stone. Adding texture and depth, the kitchen ceiling is made of painted wood joists left exposed. They visually punctuate the path and structure the underlying interventions.
Although the site had undeniable landscape qualities, the main floor level of the existing building was high in relation to the natural topography, making it difficult to properly enjoy the garden. While offering more generous ceiling heights for the kitchen, the embedding of the extension gradually reconnects the interior spaces with the rear yard. The outdoor terrace is thus in continuity with the building's functions, and acts as a pedestal around which the landscaping is laid.
At once alien and familiar, mysterious and manifest, the extension stands out without confronting. A bold prism of masonry, echoing the original materiality, the new volume establishes a formal contrast with the turn-of-the-century building, soberly crowned with sheet metal coping, reminiscent of the adjacent pitched roof. The façades, reflecting the interior's functions, are composed of solid and empty planes, alternating between brick and glass, gravity and lightness.
The desire for contemporary integration within a historic house is also reflected in the implementation of technical solutions to meet architectural requirements, without compromising occupant comfort and building performance. Thus, in response to the owners' desire for abundant fenestration, a more measured approach is recommended for the positioning of openings, and care is taken in the selection of high-performance products, including notably extra thick triple-glazed units. A hydronic radiant floor heats the new concrete slab, complemented by a central heating and air-conditioning system powered by a heat pump. The goal here was to implement these mechanical components seamlessly, in both the contemporary and historic spaces.
When working on an existing building, the integration of modern features, including architectural composition, selection of finishes and formal design, must be achieved with full respect for the heritage. This is reflected in the details, volumes, materials and tactile surfaces that enhance the intrinsic qualities of the residence and its landscape setting. Superfluous clutter and ornamentation are removed, while ensuring that the minimalist interiors remain conducive to comfort and gathering.
