Portfolio Archive - Page 5 of 9

9 July 2018

Bessborough residence

The Bessborough residence is located in the district of Notre-Dame-de-Grâce in Montreal. The project consists of the complete renovation of the ground floor of a duplex dating back from the 1950s. The challenge was to open this 900-ft2 space by maximizing living spaces while keeping a certain sense of spatial division. The architectural concept is build around three "blocks". These volumes articulate the space while playing on the notion of wall. In the center, the black volume defines the circulation and acts as a filter between the various functions. This volume, introducing a new staircase, play on its transparency by using a rhythm between full and empty using variations of glass, steel rods and mdf panels. The wooden volume brings a warm aspect in the whole space. It contains on one hand, a library and of the other one, a walk-in adjacent to the master bedroom. The grey volume, simple and sleek, allows...

12 June 2018

by Giovanni Guillabert

Aesop Kitsilano

The design concept of the Aesop boutique is inspired by the geography and particular topography of Vancouver Bay and takes up the theme of contrast to propose an interior design where borders are opposed and materials respond by symmetry. Taking its name from its Amerindian origins, Kitsilano really took off in the 50s and 60s with the hippie movement and the cultural mixes that enrich the neighborhood. Mostly residential, one finds large coloured residences, covered with light wood cladding or plaster in pastel tones, element taken up in the choice of pastel pink for the Aesop store façade. Surrounded by powerful nature, Vancouver was built on the water’s edge, on a plateau overlooking the surrounding mountains. The development of port activity reached its peak in the 1930s thanks to the timber trade. The concept of the shop transcribes this meeting of strong geological elements in the palette of materials used as well...

7 May 2018

by Giovanni Guillabert

Ville-Marie Apartment

The project is located in a 1980’s downtown tower. The interior renovation aims to completely open a space originally partitioned and to compensate for the lack of light at the heart of the apartment. From the entrance, the space is articulated around a reflective stainless steel block, whose reflection causes a slight distortion of the straight lines, while reflecting the light and fading in its context. A series of oak veneered sliding panels bring a rhythm to the classic partition of the dwelling, in which rooms are distributed on either side of the corridor. The flexibility of these panels allows indirect daylight to penetrate into the corridor area and multiplies the possibilities of use of the rooms, according to the degree of privacy required. Therefore, the office occasionally turns into a second guest room. The kitchen, which now opens into the living area, is distinguished by sober colour tones, from white to dark gray....

12 March 2018

by Giovanni Guillabert

Courcelette residence

The first step for this detached house from the late 1940s was to open the rear facade onto the garden with a 24-foot (7.4 m) sliding bay window. By taking away the intermediary support element, this intervention removes the barriers to the outdoor terrace. A metal trellis awning framing the wide opening filters heat from the sun into the kitchen and dining room, which are brought together in one space and open onto the garden. The transformation of this house opens it up, revitalizes the relationship between the spaces and creates a visual link between each one. A perforated mobile steel wall modulates the level of privacy between the living room and the two-storey-tall family room. By playing with the existing floors and creating new spaces, the concept transforms the perception of the dimensions of the house. A 2.8 m by 5 m living wall suspended above the family room is the key...

17 January 2018

by Giovanni Guillabert

Prairie house

Following the acquisition of a single-storey house from the 1950s in St-Lambert, the client wished to expand and renovate this "Prairie house" inspired building. The existing house is partly demolished and rebuilt by reinterpreting features in a contemporary way such as a low and elongated profile, a overhanging roof and the use of masonry and wood on the facades. The roof is covered with finished steel zinc, while facades are composed with St-Marc limestone and insertions of panels in slats of cedar. The monolithic fireplace stands out as the main element which is a continuation between the internal living spaces and the garden. Responding to client’s desire to create spacious and bright living spaces, the ground floor layout includes minimally a single bedroom adjoining a study and full bathroom. Conceived with transparency and lightness, the living spaces are surmounted by a 16-foot sloping ceiling at its highest point. In the idea of...

1 November 2017

by Giovanni Guillabert

De la Roche residence

A couple with two young children wish to transform a duplex located in Rosemont-La-Petite-Patrie into their principal family residence. The project consists in reorganizing the original portion of the house and enlarging it with an extension in the yard while preserving the façade on the street as required by the city bylaws. Suspended above the dining room, a grey angular volume sheltering the master bedroom cantilevers out over the garden terrace. For more intimacy, a pair of steel blades unfolds in front of two large panes of glass over the garden façade filtering the views from the neighbours and modulating the natural light coming into the living spaces. Wishing to create an effect of depth on the garden façade, two tones of colours are used; one gray tone for the suspended volume covered in fibrocement boards and an other in copper for the windows, steel blades and the patio door in the...

4 May 2017

by Giovanni Guillabert

Somerville residence

A couple with two young children wishes to renovate a row house dating back to the 1970s. Being part of a set of rowhouses designed uniformly, no changes were brought to the exterior appearance of the house. Contained within a space of 16'-0 '' wide by 47'-0 '' in length, the residence is organized on 4 levels including the basement. The entire layout of the rooms has been completely reconfigured according to the new needs of the clients. An existing triple-height void topped by a skylight illuminates the heart of the house. A new staircase with a guard composed of black painted steel tubular sections emphasises the verticality of triple height space. A white wall cladded with painted wooden panels installed in a random arrangement adds a dramatic effect to the entire project. Two translucent glass plates provide luminosity to the bathrooms and punctuate the wooden wall on the 2nd and...

10 January 2017

by Giovanni Guillabert

Dandurand Residences

Carried out in a residential area of the Rosemont–La-Petite-Patrie borough, the project consisted in renovating and expanding a duplex built in the 1920s that housed three dwelling units. The added storey harmonized the building with the size of the surrounding constructions. The intervention was minimal on Dandurand Street, rather extending along the perpendicular street. In the existing section, the brick was replaced, but the original openings were mostly retained, while large angled windows were built on the addition, multiplying the views on the urban landscape. The glass and white steel volume that was added on top of the first two levels stands out through both its angular shape and its materials. On each level, spacious decks equipped with glass railings lighten volume perception. A shared deck was inserted into a breach made in the volume, which also captures light....

17 October 2016

by Giovanni Guillabert

Canari house

An athletic young couple wants to transform a fourplex to create their primary residence, while maintaining a rental unit on the first floor. The existing part of the house, dating from the 1930s, is restored on the street side, and the attached garage is restructured to match, as well as to accommodate the new outdoor terrace perched on its roof. Topped with an angular wooden structure, this volume breaks up the perpendicular volumetry of the corner building and allows gardens to nestle into its interstices. Large bay windows overlooking the north-facing garden bring maximum light to the living areas and show off the striking colour of the stairway. As a focal point of the interior composition, the stairway brings a warm and vibrant tone to the project. The layout of this sculptural object, playing with diagonal lines, is the central dynamic element of the Canari house. A black band defines circulation through...

12 July 2016

by Giovanni Guillabert

Saint-André Residence

The Saint-André residence is located on a heritage street of Le Plateau Mont-Royal, and the project consisted in adding a modern extension on the back alley side while retaining the character of the built environment on the street side. We transformed the early-20th-century duplex into a single-family dwelling, with the intent of creating a bright, open-space house. The extension allowed for the addition, on the ground floor, of a vast kitchen that opens up on the garden, and on the second floor, of a cantilever master suite built on the corner of the house. This protruding structure creates intimacy in the night spaces as well as a dynamic volume above the yard. The back of the house is mostly covered in red brick as a reminder of the materiality of the existing house, and the siding for the cantilever is made of black layered fiber cement panels cut in diamond shapes, which...