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Marconi Residence

Montréal, Canada

ituated in the eclectic Marconi-Alexandra neighbourhood, the
project takes advantage of unusual urban conditions such as
Ssurrounding garages, train tracks, an adjacent laneway. Rather
than being seen as negative, these elements are incorporated to the
project beneficially.

A unique urban context
On Marconi street, scattered residences punctuate an urban fabric
essentially composed of car repair shops, small industrial buildings
and workshops. Built-in 1910, the original building was a typical
Montreal one-storey bungalow with a flat roof, commonly referred
to as “shoeboxes”. Despite being located in an area where housing is
prohibited according to the zoning plan, the house had a vested right
to be modified or extended. The client’s request was to renovate the
house and expand it to accommodate a small family. A number of
factors led to the decision of preserving the existing one-storey volume
of the building. First, it was important to maintain the sequence of
aligned shoeboxes present on the street. Secondly, “shoeboxes” as a
typology are slowly disappearing from the city’s landscape and being
replaced with denser two to three storey buildings. The project was an
opportunity to develop an alternative approach for these types of one
storey buildings. Therefore, despite the proximity of the train tracks
in the back, the addition takes advantage of the depth of the lot rather
than its height.

In fact, the close relation to the train tracks is used as a positive
element. The rare trains that pass by bring a cinematic effect to the
house. The animation, both visual and acoustic, is welcomed. Each
passage of a train becomes a marker, an event punctuating daily life.
This moving landscape is embraced and theatrically framed by the big
aperture in the back facade.

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