Saint-Patrick Residence
Saint-Patrick Residence is a minimalist apartment located in Montreal, Canada, designed by Michael Godmer Studio. The project began with an unusual constraint – a 12-hour time zone difference between designer and client, transforming what could have been a limitation into an exercise in trust and precision. Lorena, a Singapore-based professional who maintains properties across continents, discovered Michael Godmer’s work through Dezeenmagazine and sought to create something distinctly Montreal while honoring her frequent time in Copenhagen. The 720-square-foot space occupies a former refinery along the Lachine Canal in Pointe-Saint-Charles, where the brief called for maximizing natural light, eliminating dated cherry cabinetry, and distilling the material palette to essential elements.
White oak became the primary wood species, extending from doors into custom built-in furniture with a light lacquer finish that reads warm rather than stark. The treatment allows the grain to remain visible while providing a refined surface that complements the stone work threading through the apartment. Maharaja marble operates as the unifying material, introduced first as wall paneling in the dining nook and kitchen, then continuing seamlessly onto countertops and backsplashes. The stone reappears as custom-cut mosaic on kitchen and bathroom floors, where the shift from solid planes to fragmented pattern creates textural variation while maintaining material consistency. Even offcuts from the marble slabs found purpose, inlaid into integrated wooden bedside tables as refined details that elevate waste material into accent.
The furniture selection balances established Scandinavian manufacturers – Carl Hansen, Frama, and &Tradition – with Montreal artisans including Lambert & Fils for lighting, Béton Johnstone, Perez, and Lousco for custom pieces. This geographic duality anchors the client’s transient lifestyle to a specific place while acknowledging the design influences that shape her aesthetic sensibility. The Copenhagen references operate through restraint and joinery quality rather than overt stylistic quotation, allowing Montreal craft to assert equal presence and weave the client’s accumulated memories of the city into the physical environment.
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