Share to

Saint-Pierre

By : La Firme

GRANDS PRIX DU DESIGN – 16th edition

Discipline : Interior Design

Categories : Residence / Residential Space ≤ 1,600 sq. ft. (≤ 150 sq.m.) : Gold Certification

Categories : Residence / Bathroom : Gold Certification

Three arched windows on the fourth floor of a heritage building in Old Montreal let the light in on a space that seems to bridge dimensions. The client, owner of 455 St Pierre, Apt. 420, is a longstanding client of the studio and anything but typical. Just like the studio, he pushes against expectations and sidesteps conventions.

In the early 2000’s Apt. 420 suffered an ill-conceived renovation resulting in conflicting odd angles, wasted space, a dysfunctional kitchen, and a long black wall that consumed light. The antidote was clear: light, openness, enduring design.

The studio set out to decrease reliance on artificial light, reuse existing appliances and plumbing emplacements, and preserve the space’s timeless features. Foundational thinking favoured the tasteful over the trendy.

Everything was gutted and straightened out. The entry’s sense of compression pays off with the expansive living room. The client had defining pieces he wanted the room organised around: a couch, and a lighting fixture by French industrial designer Serge Mouille. Wood ceilings, light-painted brick and white floors helped illuminate the space. The guest bathroom was expanded. A sauna with smoked glass wall, opaque with the interior lights extinguished, replaced the guest bedroom.

The kitchen was redone for function and beauty, but its island, made from four slabs of Italian Daedalus stone, is Apt. 420’s real centrepiece. The slabs of this distinctive stone are 2 cm thick, polished and honed. They required precision milling and assembly, pushing the limits of working in stone. Daedalus is gray with creamy white shades, dark, surprising veins that give it a warmth, depth, and dynamic intricacy. It evokes both a sense of movement and connection to the Earth.

Along with the studio-designed kitchen lighting, it makes a defining statement in Apt. 420.

The master suite feels like a set from the movie Interstellar. The mirrored back wall in the black-tiled bathroom bounces light from the windows back into the bright, warm bedroom. The effect is like looking through the receding gates of a pan-dimensional tunnel.

Apt. 420 is a unique project, born of the tension between client and design studio. Informed by a singular personality, it’s also a logical next step in a design studio’s aesthetic evolution.

Collaboration

Manufacturer - Distributor : Les Ateliers Stone Age

Lighting : La Firme Design

Saint-Pierre

By : La Firme

GRANDS PRIX DU DESIGN – 16th edition

The project in images

INT.DESIGN Magazine

Saint-Pierre

By : La Firme

GRANDS PRIX DU DESIGN – 16th edition

The project in images

Language change