Residence Marconi, Mile-Ex Montréal Building Development, Canadian Architecture Photos
Residence Marconi in Montréal, Quebec
2 Dec 2020
Residence Marconi
Architects: Pelletier de Fontenay
Location: Mile-Ex, Montréal, Québec, Canada
Residence Marconi is situated in the eclectic Marconi-Alexandra neighbourhood, the project takes advantage of unusual urban conditions such as surrounding 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 t...