“珍珠”住宅

2008年Min和Yuong来到魁北克后，搬进了蒙特利尔一栋大型住宅楼顶层的小公寓。在居住的10年里，他们一家迎来了两个孩子的出生。然而，蹒跚学步的孩子们却花了很多时间在室内玩耍，公寓开始感到拥挤。对Min和Yuong来说，希望搬进一个生活空间均衡的家，让儿子和女儿自由地在室外玩耍，成了他们的首要任务。

Upon their arrival in Québec in 2008, Min and Yuong moved into a small condo on the top floor of a large residential building in Montréal. In the 10 years they lived there, the family celebrated the birth of two children. The toddlers, however, were spending a lot of time playing indoors and the apartment began feeling cramped. For Min and Yuong, the desire to move into a home with well-balanced living spaces and to allow their son and daughter to play outside freely became a priority.

经过研究，夫妇俩看中了位于蒙特利尔北端Saint-Laurent区的一栋平房，它位于一个大的转角处，周围有成熟的树木。虽然室内装饰需要大修，但这栋受20世纪60年代现代主义运动启发的房子，拥有简洁的线条和引人注目的建筑元素：这是实施一个充满家庭吸引力的项目的理想条件。早在搬进去之前，作为设计爱好者的Min就已经有了几个对未来住宅进行现代化改造的想法。他希望打开内部空间，让他的家人聚集在一个广阔无阻的房间里，扩大房子的面积以包括一个主要的套房，并将后院改造成生活空间的外部延伸。考虑到这一点，很明显，房子的原始形状需要大幅更新。然而，对客户来说，重要的是一个单一的现代建筑从新的建筑语言的房子出现，而不是各种不同的建筑体量。在与几家建筑公司会面后，Min决定与Maxime Moreau合作，他是建筑师，也是蒙特利尔MXMA建筑与设计公司的创始人。两位专业人士很快学会了紧密合作，并开始探索新的空间。

After some research, the couple fell in love with a bungalow located on a large corner lot, surrounded by mature trees, in the borough of Saint-Laurent, in Montréal’s north end. Although the interior decor needed a major facelift, the house, inspired by the modernist movement of the 1960s, featured clean lines and compelling architectural elements: ideal conditions to implement a project full of family appeal. Even before moving in, Min, a design enthusiast, had several ideas for modernizing his future home. He wanted to open up the interior spaces to allow his family to gather in a vast unobstructed room, expand the house to include a primary suite, and transform the backyard into an exterior extension of the living spaces. With this in mind, it was obvious that the original shape of the house would need to be significantly updated. However, it was important to the clients that a single contemporary building emerges from the new architectural language of the house, as opposed to an assortment of distinct architectural volumes. After meeting with several architectural firms, Min decided to work with Maxime Moreau, architect and founder of Montréal-based MXMA Architecture & Design. The two professionals quickly learned to work in close collaboration and set off to discover new spaces.

建筑师的概念和策略

项目珍珠屋诞生于一个强烈而简单的概念：作为一个设计元素，房子必须是一个避难所。为了达到这个目的，建筑师把房子想象成一个大盒子，里面有原来的住宅以及新的主要套房。然后，他将这个盒子的一部分去掉，创造了一个空隙，一个内院，一个受保护的地方，突出了花园中间的大枫树。这种减法让自然光通过整个房子的平面，露出具有温暖、对比质感的表面。后院成了一个舒缓的室内外空间，一家人可以在这里聚餐、玩耍，或者只是放松。

The architect’s concept and strategy

Pearl House was born from a strong and simple concept: as a design element, a house must be a place of sanctuary. To achieve this, the architect imagined the house as a single large box containing the original residence as well as the new primary suite. He then removed a portion of this box to create a void, an inner courtyard, a protected place that highlights the large maple tree in the middle of the garden. This subtraction allowed for the passage of natural light through the entire plan of the house, revealing surfaces with warm, contrasting textures. The backyard became a soothing indoor-outdoor space where the family could gather to have a meal, play, or simply relax.

在这所房子的现代化改造中，一个重要的问题是屋顶不同部分之间的关系。现有的房子除了夹层的平屋顶外，还有一个斜屋顶，其形状与房子的建筑风格不相称。为了创造一个连续而均匀的体量，建筑师选择了拆除夹层，然后将现有屋顶的表面延伸到新的主套房上，同时尊重现有的走线、线条和屋檐。因此，原有房屋的形状自然地演变为一个和谐整体的一部分。

An important issue in the modernization of this house was the relationship between the different sections of the roof. The existing house had a hip roof, in addition to the flat roof of the mezzanine, the shape of which was not compatible with the architectural style of the house. In order to create a continuous and homogeneous volume, the architect chose to demolish the mezzanine and then extend the surfaces of the existing roof to cover the new primary suite, while respecting the existing alignments, lines, and eaves. Consequently, the shape of the original house evolved naturally to become part of a harmonious whole.

房子的L形平面被分为四个区域。第一个区域，在北面，是一系列相连的私密空间。孩子们的卧室位于原来的房子里，利用现有的窗户，使外墙的工程量最小。一个新的浴室将这些房间隔开，确保了声学上的舒适性。在新的扩建部分，主要的套房沿着同一轴线排列。它包括一个宽敞的浴室和一个步入式衣柜。一扇20英尺宽的庭院门让这对夫妇可以从他们的卧室充分享受花园。

The house’s L-shaped plan is divided into four zones. The first, to the north, is a connected series of intimate spaces. The children’s bedrooms, located in the original house, take advantage of the existing windows, which allowed for minimal work on the facade. A new bathroom separating these rooms ensures acoustic comfort. In the new extension, the primary suite is aligned along the same axis. It includes a spacious bathroom and a walk-in closet. A 20-foot-wide patio door allows the couple to fully enjoy the garden from their bedroom.

客厅、厨房和餐厅被归纳在一起，形成了房子中心的大客厅。大房间拥有15英尺的高度，宽大的落地窗，大量的内置储物空间，以及可变换的生活空间，邀请家庭成员分享独特的时刻，同时享受丰富的自然光和舒缓的户外景观。在西端是车库和带洗衣区的前厅等功能空间。最后，面对后院，一个大型的红柏露台将一楼框住，让室内空间向外凸出，同时给人一种更宽敞的家的感觉。

The living room, kitchen, and dining room have been grouped together to form a large living area in the center of the house. With a height of 15 feet, generous floor-to-ceiling windows, plenty of built-in storage, and transformable living spaces, the large room invites family members to share unique moments while enjoying abundant natural light and a soothing view of the outdoors. At the west end are functional spaces such as a garage and a vestibule with a laundry area. Finally, facing the backyard, a large cedar terrace frames the first floor, allowing the interior spaces to project outward while giving the impression of a more spacious home.

木材的盛宴

将珍贵的室内空间封装在一个外壳中的想法，成为了一个庆祝自然光和植被的机会，同时也展示了木材作为耐用和有生命力的材料。在后院，构成新屋顶的垂直墙壁和屋檐都覆盖着西部红柏的木板。为了加强室内和室外的关系，住宅内部也使用了同样的木材。白橡木地板与墙壁和天花板的色调相同，为房间带来了温馨的感觉。

In celebration of wood

The idea of encasing precious interior spaces within a shell became an opportunity to celebrate natural light and vegetation, but also to showcase wood as durable and living material. In the backyard, the vertical walls and soffits that make up the new roof are covered with planks of western red cedar. To strengthen the relationship between the interior and exterior, the same wood was also used inside the residence. The white oak floors, in the same tone as the walls and ceilings, lend an inviting and warm character to the rooms.

环境友好型住宅

特别强调使用经认证的木材和金属，以创造耐用和环保的外部覆层。外墙由交错的柱子组成，提供了卓越的隔热性能，从长远来看具有成本效益。为了照亮生活空间并自然回收太阳能热能，在建筑的南面放置了高性能的玻璃窗。此外，庄园内的所有树木都被保留了下来。

An environmentally friendly home

Special emphasis was given to the use of certified wood and metal to create durable and environmentally friendly exterior cladding. The exterior walls, composed of staggered posts, provide superior thermal insulation that is cost-effective over the long term. To illuminate the living spaces and recover solar thermal energy naturally, high-performance glazed windows were placed on the southern facing side of the building. In addition, all the trees on the property were preserved.

新房设计的核心是位于花园中心的大枫树，它本身就成为一个建筑元素，因其生态、美学和社会效益而受到尊重。此外，团队还种植了三棵新树，以减少热岛效应。珍珠屋的风格、材料、空间组织和可变能源策略，正是环保建筑的定义，大大提升了梦想与自然接触的家庭的生活质量。

Central to the design of the new house was the large maple tree located in the heart of the garden, which became an architectural element in its own right, honored for its ecological, aesthetic, and social benefits. Additionally, the team planted three new trees to reduce the heat island effect. With its style, materials, spatial organization, and variable energy strategies, Pearl House is the very definition of environmentally friendly architecture, greatly enhancing the quality of life of the family who dreamed of living in contact with nature.

厨房

珍珠屋厨房从材料、色彩和纹理中汲取灵感，是一个温暖的空间，向全家人开放，并完美地融入了家居的整体概念。包裹着房屋主体的黑色金属外壳向内折叠，成为墙面长度的黑色橱柜：成为精致厨房的核心元素。这种创新的姿态强化了建筑内外连续性的理念。

The kitchen

Drawing inspiration from materials, colors, and textures, the Pearl House kitchen is a warm space, open to the whole family, and perfectly integrated into the overall concept of the home. The black metal shell, which wraps around the body of the house, folds inward to become wall-length black cabinets: the central element of a sophisticated kitchen. This innovative gesture reinforces the idea of architectural continuity between the inside and the outside.

黑色，在韩国文化中既代表着主宰，也代表着我们生存的循环，在橱柜和台面的哑光黑色表面上也得到了呼应。这样一来，全集成风格的厨房给房子的核心位置赋予了一个新的开始，这是业主们非常珍视的文化身份的表达。深色的厨房家具也与明亮的白色橡木地板和室内空间的充足光线形成了鲜明的对比。最后，满足家庭日常需求的多个储物空间，被隐藏在大门后，并融入到室内建筑中，打造出一个真正具有极简主义美学的功能场所。

The color black, which in Korean culture represents both mastery and a cycle of our existence, is echoed in the matte black finish of the cabinets and countertops. In this way, the fully integrated style of the kitchen lends a new beginning to the very heart of the house, an expression of cultural identity very dear to the homeowners. The dark kitchen furniture also stands in stark contrast to the bright white oak floors and the abundant light of the interior spaces. Finally, the multiple storage spaces, which meet the family's daily needs, are hidden behind large doors and integrated into the interior architecture to create a functional place with a true minimalist aesthetic.

最后，珍珠屋可以看作是一件珍贵的艺术品，一个温暖的庇护所，里面装着一个宝贝：一个家庭。

At last, Pearl House can be viewed as a precious work of art, an innovative and protective shell containing a treasure: a family.

Project: Pearl House

Design firm: MXMA Architecture & Design

Location: City of Montreal, Borough of Saint-Laurent

Area: 2128 sq. ft. (second floor)

Project manager: Maxime Moreau, architect

Team: Isabelle. A. Jolicoeur, Gabrielle Morin

Contributors: Francis Raymond (GMV3D)

Contractor: Demonfort

Project end date: August 2018

Photo credit: Annie Faffard