This scheme was the winning submission to a competition sponsored by a municipal program whose aim was the development, by private enterprise, of medium-cost housing on vacant sites owned by the City of Montreal. The project is located in Little Burgundy, a residential neighbourhood that was once mainly occupied by the working class.

The development was conceived as a park onto which a block of 21 apartment units is sited. At three points the bolck is pierced by “porte-cochères” an architectural feature of the neighbourhood, creating nodal points of activity from which all the apartments are entered. This transparency reinforces the continuity of the park-like setting. Three types of units of approximately 1100 square feet are offered. Each ground floor flat occupies two structural bays, above which two-storey apartments are placed. Although the units are modest, the creation of diagonal views, vertical and horizontal openings and interior skylights contribute to an airy and spacious environment.

The project is an exercice in methods of pre-fabrication as an attempt to offer high quality housing at a moderate price. Two or three pre-fabricated modules make up each unit. The wood-frame, factory-finished modules are lifted into place on site by a crane and then clad in masonry. Asbestos cement sewer pipes act as rhetorical columns.