This revamped Montreal flat includes a rooftop sauna lined with torrified, or dried, cedar. Outfitted with glass paneling and oriented to capture views of Mount Royal, it is the ideal haven for this hardworking homeowner.

White was used extensively throughout the addition, a choice that the architects say enhances the spacious feel of the rooms and draws attention to the views.

The renovation of a 2,000-square-foot property updates a century-old design for a family of four. "We placed the kitchen at the center of the house to link with the dining room and the outdoor space," Moreau says. In the kitchen, a Wolf oven brings out the silver details in Coit’s Bianco Cararra backsplash and island. Hee bar stools by Hay are lined under the island.

The semi-closed entryway contains a white cabinet for storing coats and scarves. The LED ceiling lights are from Contrast Lighting.

The architecture firm L. McComber Itée demolished a sloping ceiling in this Montreal attic to create a bright, roomy live-work space.

A short wall on the kitchen island hides clutter and keeps the straight lines of the design unmarred. Almost every lighting fixture, including the overhead Artemide Tolomeo light, is movable. The refrigerator and oven are from Fisher and Paykel.

The renovated attic is oriented around a central volume that houses the bathroom. The wooden shelves were fashioned from hemlock planks that were salvaged during the demolition of the roof structure.

The renovated house is outfitted with a sauna.

The kitchen features a distinctive cantilevered countertop.

A new staircase turns a corner at the large stone chimney, an element of the original house that the designers were careful to preserve.

The spacious kitchen makes it ideal for entertaining.

While the second level has more privacy, the first floor’s airiness continues upstairs. Sliding doors are kept open to allow light to pass through the bedroom, which has a cherry-stained walnut floor.

A clear railing follows the stairs to the second floor.

The architecture firm Open Form and the interior design firm Clairoux collaborated on this modern update of a 1950s-era house in Laval, Quebec, north of Montreal.

The architects and interior designers did away with the home's cramped, darkened layout and recast the interior as an open space defined by clean lines.

A before shot of the bathroom.

The owners’ goal was to transform the 19th-century building into a bold single-family residence. Historical architectural details were made modern with a striking black facade, while inside, a flexible living space that opens into an exterior garden enables a simplified lifestyle.

The steel beam original to the building was left exposed but toned down with gray, flame-proof paint. It runs the length of the flat, delimiting the passage area.

Rydingsvärd often cooks out on his terrace, which offers a view of Mount Royal. The volume housing the sauna is clad in cedar planks that were painted black. The door and windows are by Alumilex, and the custom outdoor shower is by Avantage Plus.

A radiant hot water heating system was installed under a new concrete floor slab above the old foundation. It was coated with epoxy — light gray for the common areas, white for the bedrooms and bathrooms — then finished with matte polyurethane.

Stainless steel was selected for the kitchen countertops, and the pair relied on a local industrial sheet metal fabricator to help them prepare the material for residential application. The mix of warm and cool adds depth and dimension to the space.

Atop the spiral staircase, a custom iron bench is festooned with Turkish throw pillows from SophiesBazaar.

This view shows how the space was previously divided.

The apartment originally crammed four closed rooms and a kitchen and bathroom into 1,000 square feet. After the renovation, it had only one bedroom and a large, open kitchen.

To help showcase America’s achievements at the 1967 World’s Fair in Montreal (and potentially distract crowds from the UK pavilion, manned by hostesses sporting the newly popular miniskirt), the U.S. government recruited Buckminster Fuller to design a geodesic dome. The choice proved inspired; more than 5 million traveled to the glittering American pavilion, encased in a clear acrylic cover, to see myriad displays, such as Apollo spacecraft, While it proved eye-catching during the Expo, the cover also proved extremely flammable; a fire reduced the dome to a mere steel skeleton in 1976. In a meaningful tribute to Fuller’s legacy, the site has since been turned into an environmental museum.

The master bedroom includes an armoire by Kastella and a chandelier by Lambert & Fils. A portion of the ceiling was pared back to expose the underside of the original roof.

Light from a new skylight pours into the home's entryway and living room. Steel columns and beams were added for structural reinforcement, and the couple left all beams, old and new, exposed.

"I always wanted to have my very own yellow brick road," says Viviana de Loera, whose favorite part of the home is the playful staircase. The original stairs and handrail were preserved in the renovation.

In the living room, and throughout the home, recessed "book nooks" are used to provide space-saving storage. The only seating in the room is a sleek black faux leather and steel daybed, fabricated by Montreal-based Surface Jalouse. Walls were removed to cohesively unite the living space and kitchen.

Rustic meets modern in this bedroom, where white track lighting beautifully illuminates a black wall and serves as accent lighting for vintage wall art.

The communication between interior and exterior is unmistakable. The polished steel that surrounds the fireplace and the concrete floor’s dark finish recall the home’s exterior, while the contrasting stark white walls create a visual language as striking as the building’s black facade.

Architect Alexandre Blouin designed a rectangular staircase at the center of this house, positioning it beneath an operable skylight that draws in sunshine that otherwise would have struggled to penetrate the core of the building, which is 50 feet deep.

Mark Fekete and Viviana de Loera of MARK+VIVI transformed a former tire shop in the Verdun borough of Montreal into a welcoming home-office, exposing beams on the ground floor and making liberal use of locally sourced Canadian plywood.

Thellend Fortin Architectes designed this two-story addition in the OUtremont neighborhood of Monteal to capture views from the steeply sloping lot.

By foregoing a fixed dining table in favor of a large American walnut wood countertop by Cuisine Elysee, the couple is able to enjoy a open space with a clear view of the back of the house and the garden terrace outside.

The same space before it was updated.