Colloquially known as The Main, Montreal’s Saint Laurent Boulevard is the spine of an eclectic city. Once considered a symbolic dividing line between historic Anglophone and Francophone populations, the bustling street remains a civic nexus — and a cultural heritage site. On a compact downtown lot in the Quartier de Spectacles neighbourhood, a five-storey limestone frontage quietly meets the scale, window rhythm, cornice alignment and materiality of the neighbouring 19th century urban fabric, introducing a respectful addition accented by angular window frames painted a sumptuous gold.

The Saint Laurent frontage.

Window detail on Saint Laurent.

For local designers MU Architecture — working with forward-thinking developers Rachel Julien — the story could easily have ended there: a contextual respectful urban infill project. But the mid-block apartment complex has a second face. In contrast to the elegantly understated five-storey frontage that meets Saint Laurent, the narrow building stretches west to Clark Street, where a more exuberant seven-storey facade faces out onto a busy urban park — and a very different urban context. Here, the taller frontage employs a bold brick trompe-l’œil effect, creating a playful and assertive face that nods to the cluster of theatres and cultural venues at Place Des Arts to the west.

The Clark Street frontage.

Creating an impression of depth — an evoking theatrical stage decoration — the façade combines a trio of contrasting brick hues, which are carefully arranged to simulate a third dimension that appears to shift with the changing light. “Bright white highlights the volumes, while darker bricks emphasize the relief and depth,” notes MU Architecture. “These contrasts generate a dynamic visual effect that shifts with the changing light throughout the day.”

Inside, the modestly scaled 3,530-square-metre complex is home to 52 compact apartments, as well as inviting ground floor retail spaces — designed to emphasize porosity and openness — on both Saint Laurent and Clark. Ranging in size from 31 to 52 square metres, the hotel-inspired suites are geared towards an urban demographic eager to make the most of the surrounding cultural life. Already, the building’s north face (which was left blank to accommodate future infill development) is animated with an eye-catching graffiti mural. For its part, the Clark Street facade offers a hint of theatricality too, through a play of colour and shadow, artifice and depth. It’s a surprisingly convincing performance.