Clark Mezzanine | Montreal
The Clark project is a duplex built in the 1900s whose main facade is adorned with gray stone and a wooden cornice. This 100-year-old building is located in the heart of Little Italy.
The owners wanted to enlarge the 2nd floor and add a 3rd floor to stay in their favorite area. Indeed, it was more interesting to carry out an expansion project rather than to sell their property and buy bigger and outside their area.
There’s an existing garage in the backyard that we transformed as an indoor parking for an eco-friendly car. If the owners are very pedestrian, they like the idea of having the possibility of taking their car from time to time for longer distances or destinations whose public transport is not distributed.
On the garage rooftop, we’ve built a terrace and a vegetable garden to contribute to the effort of bringing nature into the City and so that the roof is not only a private outdoor space, but also helps with the embellishment of the rear alley.
A second green terrace is located on the roof of the second floor. It’s located in continuity with the master bedroom, offering more privacy and wellness by seeing various species of plants every morning through generous windows with abundant light.
The mezzanine extension correspond to a harmonious play of volumes, resulting from regulatory constraints, including alignment with the immediate neighbor on the main facade and the necessary set-back in the backyard’s side to avoid creating direct shadows on the neighbors. Discussions with the City contributed to the project’s success and provided an opportunity to improve the initial proposal.
The courtyard between the garage and the duplex was planted in order to increase the green area on a land already almost entirely built. This outdoor living area is exclusive to the ground floor unit.
The proposed cladding is a painted metal in two shades of gray inspired by the color of the limestone on the main facade. The two colors make it possible to distinguish the original duplex and the extension in order to play with the contrast between the historical components of the building and the addition of rather sober and discreet volumes from Clark Street.
Role: Lead Architect.
