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Bedrooms are enclosed within a pair of wood and glass boxes in this renovated apartment in Montreal designed by Canadian architecture office Future Simple Studio. More
Canadian office Batay-Csorba Architects has created a greyscale interior for the ShuckShuck oyster restaurant in Vancouver complete with a snaking concrete bar. More
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Canadian interiors office Studio Roslyn has created a Vancouver hair salon designed to invoke the mood of 1980s Miami, complete with candy-coloured furniture and nostalgic art deco features. More
Toronto designer Paolo Ferrari has created the interiors for Alchemy, a marijuana dispensary that “rejects staid cannabis clichés” with mirrored ceilings and custom-made sniff jars connected to digital display screens. More
Canadian studio Jean Verville Architecte has created a theatrical interior inside a Montreal house by adding a large steel structure capped by a skylight that casts dramatic shadows.For the project, called MSO; Play/Pause, the studio completely reorganised the interior of the building and built a 12-metre-high steel lightwell in the centre of the three-storey house.
Top image: the steel structure casts dramatic shadows. Above: it runs through the house
The house belongs to a pair of actors, Sophie Cadieux and Mani Soleymanlou, so Jean Verville Architecte designed them a home that could double as a performance venue.
“We subtracted floor sections from the heart of the house to insert the steel structural installation, ” studio founder Jean Verville told Dezeen.
“The rooms on the outskirts have been kept but redistributed to new versatile functions.”
Light from the skylight is scattered across the ground-floor kitchen
The steel installation measures five by five metres. A skylight caps the structure, turning it into a lightwell that casts theatrical shadows in the rooms.
Its addition breaks up the shapes of the existing rooms, creating an interesting new layout for the owners as they go about their daily lives.
The steel grids create decorative shadows
As the structure unfolds over the three floors of the four-bedroom house, it creates what the studio describes as “pauses,” with functional spaces at the bottom of the building followed by living spaces and then bedrooms.
“We start with the first two scenic pauses on the ground floor with the kitchen and the multifunction room,” Verville said.
“Then the six scenic pauses of the living spaces and artistic creation to then end with the two scenic pauses of sleeping breaks. Each space has been designed to be versatile and re-modelable with a new function, nothing is permanent!”
A greige hue was chosen to enhance the shadow play
Metal grid screens and low walls were also added to the interior to create intriguing divisions between the spaces.
The studio chose a monochrome greige colour for the interior to underline the shadows and light patterns created by the steel structure, and to work as a background for potential future theatre events in the house.
Jean Verville Architecte creates “luminous” white triplex in Montreal
“The great calm of monochrome greige and the changing and dancing light offer as much visual spectacle as inspiring spaces for theatrical rehearsal, and even soon the possibility of performance before a small audience,” Verville said.
Jean Verville Architecte shot a series of playful images with the owners
To capture the final result of the renovation, the studio shot a photo series of the MSO; Play/Pause space with photographer Felix Michaud that features the owners in different staged situations inside their home.
Jean Verville Architecte recently finished another Montreal project, a white triplex adorned with gold windows. Previous projects on Dezeen include an electropop-informed installation created with students in Quebec City.
Photography is by Studio Jean Verville Architects and Felix Michaud.
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Toronto studio Ali Budd Interiors has transformed a dated wooden log cabin into a comfortable Canadian holiday home, with a wood-lined sunroom, vintage rugs and art by Andy Warhol.The studio was asked to renovate the cottage in Muskoka, Ontario and turn it into a neutral but comfortable backdrop for its owners’ extensive art collection.
“As the clients are big art collectors, we wanted to not only design the perfect space for the family to enjoy the surrounding nature, but create the perfect canvas to showcase their artwork,” founder Ali Budd told Dezeen.
Top: monochrome furniture in the Great Room. Above: a crumpled newspaper artwork by Paul Rousso
In each of the cottage’s rooms, fabrics designed to withstand an “indoor-outdoor” lifestyle are chosen for their practical but chic appearance.
Mindful of Ontario’s extreme climate and the many visitors who are invited to enjoy a family’s second home, the studio made sure to choose materials that will endure considerable wear and tear.
“While maintaining the charm of a cottage, we modernised the space by mixing textures, incorporating custom furniture designed by Ali Budd Interiors, and adding hints of black to give it that contemporary look,” explained Budd.
Ali Budd Interiors chose materials for their ability to withstand wear and tear
Ali Budd Interiors’ design choices balance this practical need with its clients’ love of both white interiors and natural wood.
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In the cottage’s Great Room, the main living room, these design elements include neutral-coloured armchairs and a sofa by Ali Budd Interiors that have been fabricated by Cooper Brothers.
Monochrome furniture surrounds a bespoke coffee table
A pair of plush shearling ottomans from Luxe Pour Maison sits nearby, complemented by a bespoke Ali Budd white oak coffee table topped with a white Corian surface. A newspaper artwork by Paul Rousso adds colour to the room.
The cottage also has a Muskoka room, a type of screened-in porch that acts as a sunroom. In this instance, it acts as an open-plan living room attached to the property’s dining area.
Patterned Moroccan poufs add colour to The Muskoka Room
The dining area is complete with a custom-made white Ali Budd dining table, and an iconic Campbell’s soup artwork by Andy Warhol. Black and white chairs from Restoration Hardware are positioned around the monochrome table.
The Muskoka room’s panoramic windows give guests the feeling of being outside while they lounge on a custom curved grey sofa that hugs the room’s curved walls.
“There is so much beauty outside this property, and we wanted to ensure that all of those elements shone through,” said Budd.
Other interior highlights in the Muskoka room include a central round coffee table by Garcia Group, and vintage rugs and colourful Moroccan pous from Mellah Rugs.
An iconic piece by Andy Warhol hangs in the dining room
Throughout the house, colourful accents such as these poufs add bright texture to an otherwise white and minimal backdrop.
“As we were working with a monochromatic palette, we were able to layer different finishes and textiles to create something part eclectic and part chic,” continued Budd.
Porcelain countertops are seen throughout the sleek kitchen
This monochrome theme is particularly emphasised in the black and white kitchen. Perhaps the most pared-back and modern of the cottage’s rooms, exposed natural beams are the kitchen’s only hint of the former log cabin.
Durable porcelain forms the room’s countertops, and a Sonneman pendant light is suspended over the sleek kitchen island.
An original artwork by Douglas Copeland fits between the staircase’s wooden beams
More exposed beams above the cottage’s wooden staircase perfectly frame an original painting by Douglas Copeland, its bright colours offsetting the plain white walls on which it hangs.
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Upstairs in the main bedroom, a black woven bed from American brand CB2 continues the cottage’s overall monochrome theme, while wiggly Graffito-print cushions by Kelly Wearstler soften the room’s clean lines.
Graffito-print cushions add pattern to an otherwise minimal bedroom
A final standout feature is the cottage’s renovated powder room. Originally one of the most dated-looking parts of the property, Ali Budd Interiors redesigned the room with bespoke millwork and an elegant custom-made mirror.
Ali Budd Interiors is a female-led Toronto-based firm founded in 2010.
More cosy cottages include this off-grid cabin in upstate New York and another log cabin renovation for a lake house in Quebec.
Photography is by Ali Budd Interiors.
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