Jean Verville Architecte inserts gridded steel lightwell into Montreal home

[Celerity]

https://www.dezeen.com/2021/03/01/mso-play-pause-jean-verville-architecte-house-renovation/



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.



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."



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.



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!"



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[soothsayer]

1. Cool, dramatic effects but unpleasantly institutional to me

Reminds me of creepy old big buildings.

But then I react badly to seeing subway tiles in people’s homes, as it’s hard not to think about it as filthy, so don’t go by me.

[ms liberty]

2. For the discerning homeowners who want the drama

Of a correctional facility without the hassle of lawyers and courtrooms.

[Celerity]

3. it could be a glidepath for Trump to acclimate himself to a prison cell environment

[2naSalit]

4. Dramatic eh?

Like a drama queen. Too stark and depressing looking. I'd be hurrying though my morning routines just to get the hell out of there as soon as I could.