Merged master suite spaces still retain privacy

Designed by Martine Brisson, MYTO

From the designer:

The location of this home, on a lot with a clear view and north-south orientation, in one of the Island of Montreal’s most exclusive municipalities – a garden city with some 32,000 trees – won the hearts of a young newlywed couple.

Inside, however, the house had serious issues.

Brought in to consult, designer Martine Brisson identified the main problems immediately. Wasted space from the convoluted layout; a dated layout, with overly small rooms connected by narrow hallways; a central zone with inadequate natural light.

It was clear that the only sensible option was to tear down all the walls and start from scratch.

Martine Brisson always approaches the design of an interior by paying special attention to how people move.

“That is the most important starting point for a project. In my view, traffic should determine a space’s volumetrics,” she says. 

Being able to move about freely means having a choice of different paths from room to room, secondary routes within rooms, the ability to detour easily around service areas.

Once the building had been transformed into an empty shell, the layout was established based on the position of the entrance, which leads directly into the living room, without a clearly delineated vestibule.

“The further we advance, the deeper we go into the owners’ personal space,” the designer explains.

At the same time, major work was done on the windows, with the addition of new openings, particularly in the south wing, and the expansion of existing windows.

As a result of removing the walls, the living spaces are now merged and natural light floods the ground floor. By changing the perception of volumes, the combination of the crossing effect and the luminous effect creates the illusion of a space much larger than it really is.

In the private spaces of the southern wing, the master bedroom and a bathroom share a single space.

Here, a section of wall backing the shower stall plays the structural-support role. It defines the two zones without carving up the volume, while providing the privacy needed for bathroom use.

Invisible from the bedroom, the sanitary fixtures are arranged behind in order to keep the lateral walls clear.

See more of this renovation 

Story by: Trendsideas

Photography by: Pierre Béland