Maison-Jardin BEAU: A Workers’ Duplex Reimagined for Modern Urban Living

Category: Residential Design

Maison-Jardin BEAU, designed by Alexandre Bernier Architecte, is a bold reinterpretation of a traditional Montreal workers’ duplex. Situated in the industrially rooted neighborhood of St-Henri, this vertically oriented single-family residence replaces the conventional timber-framed, horizontally stacked flats with a monolithic concrete structure. Merging heritage with innovation, the project offers crucial lessons in adaptive transformation, material expression, and sustainable urban living. In this post, we delve into the architectural strategies, technical features, and broader implications that position Maison-Jardin BEAU as a leading example in contemporary residential design.

Historical Context and Urban Typology

Montreal’s St-Henri neighborhood historically embodied the working-class fabric of the city. Characterized by tight lots, narrow streets, and standardized duplexes, this urban landscape emanated from a time of rapid industrialization. Duplex typologies—often timber-framed, horizontally divided into two flats—were erected to house factory workers in dense urban environments. These buildings became ubiquitous in Montreal, and similar models are prevalent throughout North America and parts of Europe.

Maison-Jardin BEAU repositions this model for the 21st century. Rather than demolishing heritage or merely preserving it, the project reimagines the typology. By eliminating the horizontal division and stacking living spaces vertically, architect Alexandre Bernier articulates a new urban housing language—one that maintains continuity with the past while adapting it to modern living needs. This aligns with a broader architectural trend, observed in cities like Melbourne, Amsterdam, and Toronto, where adaptive reuse and reinterpretation of historical housing formats offer practical solutions to housing density and sustainability issues in growing urban centers.

Design Principles: Verticality, Material, Transparency

Verticality in Response to Urban Constraints

The plot’s narrow, deep dimensions dictated a vertical design strategy. Rather than expanding horizontally—a common feature of traditional duplexes—the new design stacks spaces across multiple levels, emphasizing vertical spatial flow while respecting the existing urban fabric. This vertical orientation enables efficient land use and aligns with contemporary infill strategies across dense urban environments.

Concrete as Monolith and Medium

Concrete serves triple duty in this project: structure, surface, and aesthetic finish. The tectonics of the building emphasize concrete’s versatility, articulating both its mass and its subtlety. Exposed walls retain the imprint of formwork, creating a narrative of construction while infusing texture and rhythm. The 14-foot cast-in-place concrete island in the kitchen exemplifies the material’s seamless transition from structure to interior surface—enhancing both visual and tactile continuity.

Transparency and Connection to Garden

One of the most significant architectural gestures is the dissolving boundary between interior and garden. A large sliding glass wall on the ground floor opens onto a verdant private garden. Anchored by a shallow reflecting pool, this space blurs the delineation between indoor and outdoor environments. Light refraction, reflective surfaces, and open spatial planning work in concert to heighten the sensory experience while increasing access to daylight and fostering passive environmental control.

Material Textures and Interior Finishes

Flooring throughout the home features polished terrazzo, exposing aggregate and adding visual depth. This textured palette continues along built-in elements and surface treatments, showcasing the expressive qualities of concrete when handled with precision and craft. The ceiling plane, lighting selections, and carefully articulated joints avoid the sterility often associated with minimalism, instead yielding a warm yet raw material ambiance.

Building Techniques and Technical Specifications

Concrete Structure and Open Plans

The project’s load-bearing structure comprises reinforced poured-in-place concrete walls and slabs. By utilizing concrete’s compressive strength and eliminating the bracing systems required in timber construction, interior spaces can remain open and fluid. This supports Bernard’s vision of creating a highly flexible, contiguous living envelope within the constraints of a narrow urban lot.

Thermal Inertia and Radiant Heating

One of the underappreciated aspects of concrete in residential settings is its thermal mass. By absorbing and gradually releasing heat, the thermal inertia of the structure reduces daily temperature fluctuations, optimizing comfort and energy performance. This passive strategy is augmented by radiant in-slab heating systems, ensuring even heat distribution with low energy input—a strategy increasingly adopted in sustainable residential developments across Europe and Australia.

Strategic Fenestration and Solar Optimization

Windows are deployed selectively for daylight penetration, solar orientation, and privacy. Garden-facing facades feature floor-to-ceiling glazing that frames the outdoors while maximizing daylight harvest. Glazing selection and shading devices are tailored to Montreal’s seasonal climate variation, balancing solar gain in winter and natural cooling in summer.

Environmental Integration and Biophilic Design

Maison-Jardin BEAU’s seamless interface with its garden exemplifies a growing trend toward environmental integration in urban residential architecture. By foregrounding green space and utilizing natural ventilation and shading techniques, the residence mirrors principles of biophilic design—enhancing the health and well-being of occupants. Such strategies are now standard in high-performance homes from Copenhagen to Melbourne, signaling a global shift in how urban residences engage with the natural world.

Comparative Analysis: Old vs. New

Global Context and Comparative Projects

Maison-Jardin BEAU slots comfortably into a larger global movement. For example, in Melbourne, the Salus House by Splinter Society responds to similar urban constraints through vertical landscaping and adaptive railing systems. In Northern Europe, refurbished infill houses in Utrecht and Hamburg now often use masonry or concrete as structural and expressive media, aligning closely with Bernier’s approach.

In cities facing densification, real estate pressure, and the need for sustainable living standards, such projects illustrate the potential of historical typology transformation. They are not merely stylistic gestures but essential interventions in future-proofing urban housing.

Educational Insights for Architects and Homeowners

• Adaptive Transformation: Converting duplexes and other historic multifamily frameworks can provide flexible, family-oriented solutions in dense urban settings without requiring suburban sprawl or heritage erasure.
• Material Strategies: Reinforced concrete offers not only robust structure but also environmental and aesthetic advantages. Proper detailing and surface finishing can counteract concerns of coldness or heaviness often associated with the material.
• Landscape Integration: Emphasizing proximity to nature through glazed walls, planted courtyards, and water features enhances livability while delivering quantifiable health and energy benefits.
• Thermal Performance: Passive heating and thermal mass strategies are essential in reducing reliance on HVAC systems. These are increasingly important in achieving net-zero or low-carbon residential buildings.
• Contextual Design: Respecting local vernacular while innovating form and materiality is a powerful way to embed sustainability and relevance in new work.

Conclusion

The Maison-Jardin BEAU by Alexandre Bernier Architecte is much more than the sum of its parts. It is a compelling study in how traditional urban housing typologies can be reimagined through material innovation, spatial verticality, and environmental sensitivity. While grounded deeply in its Montreal context, the project’s lessons are universal—applicable to architects and homeowners navigating the future of residential design in dense urban environments worldwide.

Maison-Jardin BEAU exemplifies how thoughtful design transforms constraints into opportunities. For architects, it’s a case study in marrying history and modernity; for homeowners, a vision of what living in the city can feel like—light-filled, grounded in material honesty, and open to the garden beyond.