Situated on a private lot in the center of Plateau Mont-Royal in Montreal, the Siamoises Mentana Boyer project offers something a bit unexpected – twin houses. What that means is that two, almost identical houses were designed back-to-back and occupy a single lot. Each house takes up half the lot, with their entrances facing opposite streets.
With neighboring buildings restricting the size of the project, the need for the property to be co-used, and the challenge of bringing each residence as much light as possible, made for a difficult task for Blouin Tardif Architecture Environnement. To give each residence the best of everything, they took the footprint to the edges of the lot.
Despite taking up the entire lot, each residence has a private inner courtyard that helps bring in natural light.
Inside, the homes are laid out over three floors with the public spaces being on the top. That way, the living areas get the most light with the floor-to-ceiling windows.
From the living room and kitchen you have full access to the courtyard.
A square is cut out of the facade offering a view from the top-floor courtyards.
A lower courtyard still receives plenty of sunlight filling the middle floor with light as well.
Photos by Steve Montpetit, courtesy of v2com.
