Maison Sauriol

Discipline : Architecture

Categories : Residential Building / Private House ≤ 2 000 pi2 (≤ 185 m2) : Gold certification

MAISON SAURIOL

The home of the advertiser and sound mixer

by Natalie Dionne Architecture

The MAISON SAURIOL is a new urban house that boldly integrates itself among the Californian bungalows of the Ahuntsic neighborhood in Montreal. It offers a contemporary reinterpretation of these buildings, typical of the 1960s, with marked horizontality and carefully landscaped grounds.

The volumetry of this “square house” is extremely simple, sober and compact, cubic and unadorned, respecting the scale of the surrounding neighborhood. Its originality lies in its four façades clad in handmade brick, whose texture, irregular contours, and brown hue evoke tree bark and give the project a monolithic expression that is at once austere, appealing, and authentic. The use of this durable material, which echoes the cladding of nearby bungalows, is intended as a statement and an example within the Montreal landscape, successfully meeting the challenge of urban integration in this heritage-rich built environment.

The volumetry is further exploded inside and exploits verticality. Behind the seemingly simple facade hides, at the heart of the house, a double-height space that visually connects the different levels. Its oversized windows frame the landscape and rhythm the light through the seasons, creating a strong relationship between interior and exterior. These sober architectural gestures have a great impact on the quality of the interior space and allowed for a standout project despite having a measured budget envelope.

The MAISON SAURIOL was born from a beautiful collaboration between the architects and the clients, she being an advertiser and he a sound mixer, both reputed in the Montreal artistic community. The challenge was to design a house that is both a living and creative space. Together, they revisited the way of living and working at home, structuring the project around this dual use to create a poetic living place, both inspiring and soothing. The sequence of spaces was designed to favor circulation and the overlay of uses. The color palette is sober, the furniture is finely integrated, and the large openings let nature in while preserving the inhabitants' privacy. All these factors contribute to the softness and coherence of the place.

Free from any superfluous effects, MAISON SAURIOL prioritizes integration with the built environment, the preservation of the surrounding landscape, the quality of spaces, flexibility of use, and long-term durability.

The firm Natalie Dionne Architecture (NDA) is passionately invested in searching for solutions to improve architectural quality on all levels, whether aesthetic, constructive, or environmental. Through an approach of continuity, transition, and innovation, NDA is dedicated to creating architecture that serves as an example in the urban Montreal landscape and collaborating in defining the architectural references for the future.

The project in images