Renovation of plex | Expand to stay

Étienne Duclos and Marie Breton like to live in the heart of the city. Their two children walk to school, the grocery store is a few blocks away, and the park too. But on the ground floor of their triplex in Vieux-Rosemont, space was starting to run out. Between leaving or staying and expanding, they chose the second option. Enlarge, yes, but in moderation.

Previously the owner of a condo in the same neighborhood, the couple acquired this building eight years ago, after the birth of their first child. The idea of ​​living on the ground floor with a basement and access to a courtyard was enough for him. “But we liked the flexibility of being able to say: now we own a building, so we potentially have this additional space,” indicates Marie Breton. With the arrival of a second child, the lack of space began to be felt. “What was clear was that we didn’t want to go anywhere else,” she continues. We preferred to live in a smaller place, but in the neighborhood. »

The couple initially had some ideas of grandeur. One of the two second floor apartments (of the three and a half) had been vacant for two years and required renovation. Like many Montreal owners, they toyed with the idea of ​​transforming their building into a cottage, but came up against a new regulation put in place by the borough of Rosemont–La Petite-Patrie to preserve the rental stock. Since October 2020, owners of triplexes located in the borough can no longer transform their building into a single-family home.

“It’s a constraint that ultimately turned into an opportunity,” says Étienne Duclos, who is a professional architect and co-founder of the Montreal firm DESK architects. It was an opportunity to keep a tenant. She’s been here for 25 years. We get along really well with her. It would have been difficult to say goodbye to him. »

Once the work was completed, the couple realized that the space the family now had was more than enough. The children, aged 7 and 9, still share the same room (by choice!), but one of them will eventually be able to move into an additional room which now serves as a playroom.

See the long term

“We wanted to do a project that allowed us to see in the long term,” emphasizes Marie Breton. With the children growing up, we felt that they would each want their own room eventually, but we also didn’t want to end up with something excessive (by the time they left the nest). »

In addition to adding 500 square feet to the family’s home, the renovation project was also an opportunity to reorganize the space, notably the tiny entrance, impractical for a family of four, which was replaced by an open-plan vestibule . In the space occupied by the old accommodation upstairs, two bedrooms have been fitted out and the bathroom has been enlarged.

Typical of a Montreal plex built in the 1950s, the ground floor was divided into long narrow closed rooms, located on either side of a corridor. The dining room and living room were separate from the kitchen, as the family wanted a more open space so they could spend more time together. The living area was opened up and concentrated at the rear of the building, where the windows could be enlarged to provide more light.

The spared kitchen

It was out of the question for the owners to replace the kitchen, which had been renovated when they acquired the building. “It didn’t make sense for us to do it again,” says Marie. She was five or six years old at the time. It was such a big waste in our minds. We almost had to persist with the entrepreneurs who told us: “While you’re at it, you’re destroying everything.” »

Opening up the space and keeping the old kitchen, despite its still very modern appearance, nevertheless represented an integration challenge.

The architect responded by adding two units of integrated furniture to the limits of the kitchen, in order to redefine the slate tiles on the floor, different from the white oak flooring which covers the rest of the space.

To compensate for the removal of a supporting wall, two columns, hidden inside the furniture and a partition, had to be preserved. Same thing for the rain pipes and the plumbing of the accommodation above which are hidden in the partition also serving to delimit the rooms and the circulation corridor, while accommodating the media console on the living room side.

The other piece of furniture, leaning against the exterior wall, has an enlarged opening overlooking the courtyard, storage, as well as a white oak bench serving as a reading corner and creating an interaction between the interior and exterior. “It’s my favorite spot,” notes Marie. Children play a lot in the alley. It allows me to take a little look. Even the children, they sit with their books. »

If the facade of the building could not be modified despite its asymmetry (the building is located in an area defined as heritage), the rear for its part was completely redone and refined, with the aim of harmonizing with the others buildings in the alley. “We wanted to avoid full-size curtain walls,” notes the architect. We can see that it’s recent, that it’s been modified, but it’s similar to what’s around it. » A new spiral staircase was even installed. In poor condition, the red brick was replaced by lighter masonry.

In another phase, the owners would like to demineralize the backyard, while maintaining a spirit of openness to the alley.

“One day we would like to try to privatize a little, but in the spirit of keeping this area open, without being cloistered. It will be a great challenge to find an in-between,” observes Étienne.

The couple will have enough time to think about it. “It was a big project,” says Marie. The work took almost a year. That’s why we said to ourselves: we’re here for decades. »