MONTREAL – Once a textile mill and later a Campbell’s soup factory, a mid-19th century building in the heart of Montreal’s trendy Plateau Mont-Royal district is now an award-winning condo with a decisively 21st century design bent.

La Firme, the architect behind the “Elmire” project, reinvented the industrial building into a modern living space. The Elmire transformation earned La Firme both a 2023 Jury’s Top Pick and Winner in the Renovation category of the Built Design Awards. The project was previously recognized as a Fantini Design Awards winner for its creativity, design, inspiration, and quality.

In striking a harmonious balance between Elmire’s historical roots and its modern form, La Firme applied a design ethos focused on the careful preservation of the building's original architecture. As much of the original structure as possible was left exposed, including massive British Columbia fir timber beams, brick walls, and structural arches that serve to delineate boundaries within the interior. Collectively, the retained elements serve as a counterbalance to La Firme’s infusion of more modern elements, characterized by white oak construction that serves to organize the space.

Central to the design process, La Firme introduced extruded volumes within the empty layout in the form of multifunctional White Oak building blocks that serve to subtly frame the spaces. One houses the kitchen, while also creating concealment space for a laundry room, a water closet, and a coffee nook with its own stainless-steel counter and integrated sink. An L-shaped configuration in the loft area contains a master bedroom, an in-suite bathroom, a multifunctional gallery, a conservatory, and a meditative space. In addition to their role in defining the condo’s spaces, white oak cabinets also provide abundant additional storage space.

Kitchen cabinets, in addition to custom cabinetry throughout the home, were manufactured by Atelier 13.

"We were able to take a space steeped in history and to mold it into something that respects its past, but which also lays the groundwork for its future,” said Louis Béliveau, lead designer at La Firme. “Simultaneously, the design is informed by the personalities and lifestyles of the clients.”

Combining the clients’ passions for geology and the culinary arts, La Firme’s kitchen design features a unique labradorite granite countertop fabricated by Ateliers Stoneage with a laser-cut bent stainless-steel counter, beautifully finished with white oak and Fenix panels. A slightly raised, split-level living room reveals breathtaking views of nearby Mont Royal, with a pull-out guest bed cleverly concealed in a custom drawer to complement the room’s functionality.

A preserved archway marks passage through to the loft area, where the multifunctional gallery and conservatory occupy a bright and open floor plan where the clients can indulge in their passions for contemporary art and music. The open spaces narrow and transition through another archway leading into the master bedroom and bathroom.

In the master bedroom, La Firme designed cabinets with a dual purpose. In addition to traditional clothing and linen storage functions, one of the cabinets houses the clients’ private wine collection. In the adjacent bathroom, primarily clad in tiles, a wall adorned with five slabs of book-matched Calacatta verde marble, with veins aligned to create a subtle geometric pattern, exudes an added level of luxury. In alignment with La Firme’s balance of old and new, a band of glass blocks was installed as a functional retro nod to 1980s design, allowing natural light from the gallery space to permeate the room.