Redpath industrial chic apartment by Les Ensembliers

Architects: Les Ensembliers
Location: Montreal, Canada
Year: 2010
Area: 6,000 sqft / 557 sqm
Photo courtesy: André Rider
Description:

Les Ensembliers have finished a three-story, 6,000 square-foot home that unites three bordering condo in the Redpath Lofts. The modelers and planners effectively handled the test of reconsidering the beginning measurements and motivation behind the three unmistakable units, bringing about a reasonable new abiding that exemplifies the proprietors’ identity.

We could take this task much more distant than we had envisioned toward the begin, on account of the outstanding relationship our customers permitted us to manufacture with them. When it came to characterizing the new inside construction modeling and the organization of the distinctive visual ambiances, they were excited to accentuate the mechanical character of the previous sugar refinery, while giving the space a vibe that encapsulates their way to deal with life. A marriage of their vision, liberality and identity made it conceivable to finish this unpredictable task,” said planner Maxime Vandal and inside originator Richard Ouellette, the establishing accomplices of Les Ensembliers.

In the mid 2000s, the change of the old Redpath Sugar refinery into extravagance lofts kick-began the rejuvenation process in Montreal’s Sud-ouest region, close to the Lachine Canal, prompting the continuous gentrification of the zone. The momentous change of this notable mechanical building won a few grants, including one from Héritage Montréal in the repurposing classification and the Wawanesa Award for Heritage Enhancement.

In joining three separate units in the one of a kind structure, each on an alternate floor, Les Ensembliers imagined a cognizant new space with an unpredictable identity. “We didn’t need the new space to be the basic mix of three distinct units. We additionally needed to influence the visual force of the building’s modern character, while making tracks in an opposite direction from the space rationale of the first change,” Vandal clarified.

On account of that vision, the fashioners decided on two strong design proclamations, one vertical and the other flat. The main is a focal opening, making a chamber connecting each of the three stories and conveying better common lighting to the third floor. The second is a dynamic pivot as a story raised by three stages, connecting the two staircases on the fourth floor and, on the fifth floor, a walkway spanning the parlor and visitor room.

These engineering explanations additionally made it conceivable to make clear divisions into particular utilitarian zones: between the lobby, lounge area and kitchen and the youngsters’ region on the fourth floor; between people in general territories on the fourth and fifth floors and the private spaces on the third and fifth floors. In the process the first living zones were completely reconceived to make a liquid move between spaces with unmistakable characters, from comfortable retreats to spaces intended for rich friendliness.

The fundamental character of each of the zones was characterized by a specific treatment of the space, as far as the outline of volumes, the utilization of materials and the determination of furniture. An impeccable space for talking and sharing, the lounge area discovers its demeanor through its staggering focal steel chimney, high roof, vast oval table, liberal windows, and lighting installations comprising of little knobs hanging in a cubic edge made of metal bars. Everything was intended to highlight the amazing volumes of these old modern spaces. Then, the kitchen adjusts to the methodology by being decreased to its essentials: three moderate islands, and all stockpiling and apparatuses hid behind varnished dividers.

Conversely, the main room on the third floor communicates warm household solace, with a few gestures to urban chic. As we approach, the two low wood dividers encircling the stairs toward the space frame a cover flagging the passageway to a close safe house. Past, everything identifies with the grasping solaces of home, from warm hues to surfaces that are a pleasure to touch, to the decorations and their uncommonly chose materials: turquoise silk dividers, Verona marble chimney, velvet bow moon loveseat…

A marriage of the space’s modern starting points and the inhabitants’ identity, the inside spaces were constructed as an interchange of complexities between crude mechanical character and a desire for extravagance and urban solace. In the front room, the precise armchairs, trim glass dividers and broken lines of the floor covering stand out from the adjusted pads and reflect. Delicate banquettes are embedded into a mechanical style dark metal bookshelf covering a whole divider.

Agreeable materials substitute with intelligent ones: steel, cleaned solid, silk, glass, velvet… In the private zones on the third floor, silk-secured metal draperies, reexamined mobile segments and the straightforward acrylic legs on the restroom vanity resound the openness and smoothness of the spaces on the upper floors.

This interaction of references, normal for Les Ensembliers’ methodology, is additionally found in the determination of ornamental components. For instance, the veins in the chimney’s Verona marble propelled the decision of the Japanese painting over the bed. The legs of a seat look like the spike heels on a portion of the proprietor’s shoes. In the restroom, the dividers secured with pennies are a tribute to the ceased coin. “Every article was painstakingly decided for its identity and the way it fits into the entirety. Whether you are taking a gander at a vintage casing or a bit of hand crafted furniture, nothing arrives by possibility.”