There’s a Surprising Twist at Every Turn in This Montreal Townhouse

In Canada, a bright-red townhouse, a bunker-like art studio, and this playful family pad show us how homes with personality can still respect their contexts.

When Idir Saïdani and Mélanie Labrosse asked La Shed Architecture to design their future home in Montreal, the firm was immediately taken by the playful eclecticism of their mood board. "They didn’t want a perfect, clean thing," says founding partner Sébastien Parent. "There were vintage elements, there were super modern elements.... It had a patchwork quality."

The firm helped the couple find a downtrodden duplex in the Plateau-Mont-Royal neighborhood and drew up plans to rebuild it from scratch as a 2,750-square-foot, two-and-a-half-story home with common areas on the ground floor and bedrooms above. The clients collaborated with the architects closely on the design, suggesting playful details that would support family life with their three sons. "During construction, when I saw the house rising, I said, ‘We will need an intercom to talk to each other!’" recalls Mélanie. "The plumber heard me and said, ‘Yes, this can be done.’" Now, a pipe hidden in the wall has an opening at each floor to transmit their voices.

A central atrium also connects the family members with one another—and the outdoors. The space is anchored by the kitchen island, in accordance with Quebec’s cultural tradition of placing the kitchen at the core of the house. The space is daylit so that "on a sunny day, we can feel when a cloud passes by," says Mélanie.