In Montreal’s Villeray neighbourhood, a new 549m² family residence uses an articulated envelope, a curved glass-block screen and a vertical sequence of light-filled spaces to negotiate privacy, daylight and the relationship between domestic life and the garden.

 

The Lens in Montreal by MU Architecture is a new family residence in the Villeray neighbourhood, designed for a couple and their children on a site previously occupied by another single-family house. Its replacement allowed the architects to reconsider the building’s position, orientation and internal organization from the outset, while responding to an urban plot bordered by a street to the south and alleys to the east and north.

The design draws on Japanese minimalism and principles of feng shui, translated less through stylistic references than through controlled circulation, filtered daylight and a gradual transition between more public and private areas. A mature white spruce at the corner of the property was retained and incorporated into the overall composition.

 

Privacy and natural light

The site offered abundant southern light but limited opportunities to withdraw from surrounding views.

MU Architecture responds with a composition of predominantly opaque volumes, interrupted by carefully positioned openings and intermediate spaces. Rather than opening the house indiscriminately towards the street, the envelope controls visibility while allowing daylight to penetrate the interior.

The defining element of the south façade is a curved wall of glass blocks. The translucent surface admits and diffuses light without providing direct views into the residence, establishing an intermediate condition between transparency and enclosure.

Its effect changes over the course of the day. From inside, daylight is softened before reaching the living spaces; from the street, the interior becomes a blurred luminous presence. At night, artificial light reverses the relationship, giving the corner of the house the appearance of a discreet lantern.

 

A layered domestic programme

The house is organized vertically, beginning with a sunken garage accessed by a sloping driveway.

Moving vehicle access below ground frees the main level for domestic use and creates a clear distinction between service functions and the principal living spaces. The basement is treated as more than a technical level: a generous mudroom connects the garage with the main staircase, while two guest suites provide an independent area for visitors.

A flexible room with its own access from the driveway can operate as a home office or meeting space, allowing professional use without bringing visitors through the private areas of the residence.

The ground floor forms the centre of family life. Kitchen, back kitchen, dining room and living room are organized as a continuous sequence, with the living area extending into a double-height volume. A children’s playroom and powder room complete the programme.

Towards the rear, the shared spaces open onto a covered veranda and garden, establishing a direct connection between daily domestic activities and the exterior.

 

Private spaces and vertical connections

The upper floor contains the more private functions.

Two children’s bedrooms share a bathroom, while a separate laundry room supports the family programme. The primary suite opens onto a private terrace above the veranda, retaining a direct relationship with the garden while remaining separated from the communal outdoor spaces below.

A large office occupies a mezzanine overlooking the double-height living room. This position connects work with the central domestic volume without enclosing it within a conventional room.

A second staircase continues upwards to a rooftop lounge and terrace, adding another external space within the dense urban setting.

 

Glass blocks as an environmental filter

The curved glass-block wall becomes the project’s most recognizable architectural element, but its role is primarily environmental and spatial.

Its translucent surface provides privacy from the street and neighbouring properties while capturing southern light. The constantly changing degree of brightness gives depth to the front of the house and creates a softer boundary than either a conventional solid wall or clear glazing.

The reference to Japanese shoji screens is expressed through this filtered condition: light is admitted without the exterior becoming fully visible.

Alongside it, beige concrete brick volumes alternate between sharper and rounded corners, producing a more solid outer layer that mediates between the residence and the surrounding urban fabric.

 

An interior organized by material and light

The interior uses a limited palette of walnut, oak, porcelain and brushed brass.

In the kitchen and dining area, a monolithic suspended hood defines the island, while a sequence of fluted timber pendant lights introduces a more detailed scale above the dining area. The glass-block wall remains visible from within, distributing diffuse daylight across the timber floor.

A floating white steel staircase with glass balustrades links the principal levels around a vertical void. The opening allows natural light to travel through the section of the house and maintains visual relationships between floors.

The bathrooms continue the restrained palette with beige porcelain and brushed brass fittings, while the primary suite incorporates both a walk-in shower and a steam shower.

 

Extending the house into the garden

At the rear, the architecture opens substantially towards the landscape.

The garden by Atelier Friche is characterized by grasses and perennial planting, with a dark-bottomed swimming pool reflecting the changing sky. A covered terrace equipped with an outdoor kitchen extends the main living areas outside, while a green roof continues above it.

The contrast between the more protected street façade and the open garden elevation establishes the main spatial logic of the house: enclosure and filtered light towards the city, greater transparency towards the private landscape.

The Lens consequently uses its envelope not simply to define an architectural image, but to regulate privacy, daylight and movement. Through the glass-block screen, the vertical void and the successive connections to terraces and garden, the residence organizes family life around varying degrees of openness rather than a simple division between inside and outside.

A House Organized Around the Pool

In Caesarea, Israel, architect Raz Melamed has designed E30 – House in Caesarea as a family residence where the swimming pool becomes the spatial and visual center of the project. Rather than treating the pool as an addition to the house, the design reverses the usual hierarchy: the residence is organized around it, allowing the outdoor leisure space to define the rhythm of domestic life.

The project was commissioned by a couple in their 50s as a weekend retreat for hosting their children and grandchildren. Over time, the brief evolved into a full-time residence, with multiple bedroom suites, generous communal areas and a strong emphasis on the relationship between interior, garden and pool.

A Continuous Black Steel Beam

The defining architectural element of the house is an exposed black steel beam, 44 cm in height. Instead of being concealed, the beam is expressed as a continuous line that organizes the plan, divides levels and frames the main public spaces.

Inside, the beam extends as a bridge, connecting the staircase to the bedroom wing. In the double-height living area, it cuts horizontally across the glazed façade, preserving open views toward the sky while reinforcing the linear geometry of the house. Toward the garden, the same element continues outward, supporting a cantilevered pergola that shades the outdoor seating area without columns and keeps the view toward the pool unobstructed.

 

 

Street Façade and Filtered Privacy

The entrance façade is composed of white plaster surfaces, articulated with horizontal joints and vertical wooden slats. The contrast between the white volume and the dark wood gives the house a restrained but clearly defined street presence.

The wooden elements also have a functional role. They conceal the staircase from the outside while allowing natural ventilation, creating a façade that works simultaneously as screen, threshold and environmental device.

Double-Height Communal Space

The main public areas are arranged as a sequence of dining and living spaces beneath a double-height ceiling. The open plan is defined by the black steel beam above, the large glazed openings toward the garden and a restrained material palette of wood, black metal and neutral tones.

Lighting is treated in layers. Suspended linear fixtures respond to the height of the space, while recessed spotlights support everyday functionality. Together, they give scale and clarity to the large interior volume.

 

 

Kitchen as a Tall Wooden Plane

The kitchen is organized in a parallel layout, with a large island and white Corian worktops. Behind it, a tall wooden façade conceals storage and mechanical systems, rising to the full height of the double-height space.

This wooden plane intersects with the black steel beam, turning a functional wall into one of the central visual elements of the interior. The kitchen therefore operates not only as a place of preparation, but also as part of the architectural composition of the public zone.

Suites, Basement and Upper Floor

The ground-floor master suite opens directly toward the swimming pool and is finished with parquet flooring. Its bathroom combines travertine surfaces with black granite walls, black fittings and white Corian elements, continuing the project’s controlled palette of light surfaces, dark accents and natural stone.

Additional bedrooms and leisure spaces are located in the basement and on the upper floor. A home cinema and games room extend the family program, while floating black steel stairs and a glass-railed bridge connect the different levels, maintaining visual continuity across the interior.

 

 

Garden, Travertine and Outdoor Living

The outdoor areas include multiple seating zones, an open-air kitchen and a swimming pool clad in travertine, aligned flush with the garden level. The same travertine flooring continues from the interior to the exterior, strengthening the connection between the living spaces and the garden.

Landscaping remains minimal, allowing the pool, pergola and structural line of the house to dominate the site. The result is a residence where the architecture does not simply frame outdoor life, but is shaped by it.