Queen Mary Residence / Atelier Barda architecture
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Text description provided by the architects. Queen Mary Residence is a rear extension challenge of a historic household in Montreal’s Hampstead district. The venture concerned the renovation of a Tudor-model home, designed in 1927, to render it more suited to the needs of a substantial household.
Within the context of a pretty restrictive regulatory framework developed to maintain the district’s historic characteristics, Atelier Barda embraced the challenge of hanging a fragile equilibrium amongst historicism and purposeful use. The widespread areas of the existing home’s inside, even though at the time effectively-suited to its period and its exterior environment, were being small and overly-partitioned, so proscribing open motion and restricting penetration of purely natural mild. Also, the current configuration fell brief of accommodating the quantity of bedrooms necessary by the spouse and children.
“The community is characterised by properties that were being constructed in a variety of classic architectural types,” clarify the architects. “It is located in a household space that is devoid of industrial and industrial installations, and eliminated from the large-density of Montreal’s downtown main.”
Transitioning from the past. Atelier Barda proposed a principle to preserve the historic character of the residence, yet with a new changeover from historic aspects to a far more intimate romantic relationship between the residence and its inhabitants. The primary style and design of houses in the neighbourhood concentrated on the front façades of the crafted setting, with pretty little emphasis positioned on the developmental opportunity of the rear parts of the homes. In trying to keep with that intention, Atelier Barda respected and preserved the design concepts of the front façade, producing only slight variations like window replacements and refurbished columns.
“The backyards of these homes have historically played a secondary purpose to their entrance yards and façades,” be aware the architects. “In a perception, our technique to this project is a critique of that rhetoric.”
Working behind the scenes. Atelier Barda’s method relied heavily on intricate architectural methods to build a mirror-like addition struggling with the rear. Attached to the rear of the dwelling, the addition was angularly slash on the east facet in get to preserve the architectural integrity of the front façade, and to ensure the visible continuance of its archetypal sloped roof. The north side of the new structure was similarly sloped to reduce shadows and to maximize sunlight in the rear yard.
By performing powering the sightlines of the entrance façade, the place the city’s regulatory framework is additional permissive, Atelier Barda was granted greater freedom in their choice of materials. The agency opted for the nobility and performance of custom-minimize copper panelling for the rear extension’s roof, as opposed to the standard asphalt shingles of the existing framework. Down below the copper roofing, the layout group used burnt wooden cladding, providing a organic protecting layer towards the things.
Leveling the enjoying area. In purchase for the in depth structure strategy to empower the customer to just take cost of the mostly underexploited rear of the house, Atelier Barda desired to address the property’s landscaping, including a problematic drainage challenge. In endeavouring to make a extra immediate and intimate relationship with the rear property and the home’s elevated floor flooring, the workforce opted for a landscaped counter slope that seamlessly transitions from a freshly-developed terrace to the garden area. Situated on the east facet of the household, the new terrace sits on prime of a newly designed garage, and is semi-enclosed on 3 sides, with a rear-oriented opening focusing awareness in direction of the landscaped slope and rear yard region.
Modern day transitions. The interior part of the newly made extension focused on a move of contrasts, reflecting the historic appeal of the home and a development of time and existence for the household. Original design and style features and rooms appointed with ancestral furnishings deliberately distinction with the fashionable ambiance of the 360 sq. ft. extension, symbolically embodying the personal development of the home’s inhabitants. The home’s kitchen area and eating location were transplanted to the new extension, resulting in a very present-day, open up room that is highlighted by polished, terrazzo-style concrete flooring, white walls, and high ceilings. Organic light brightens the place, infused into the place by way of expansive openings, as effectively as by way of the newly created skylight.
“The undertaking respects the historic essence and cachet of the dwelling, but supplies the household with an ambiance much more conducive to the existing,” concluded the architects. “It embraces the very best of both of those worlds, with the rear of the dwelling now possessing renewed function as a modern day, casual room with garden sights.”
