CAIT AND MIKKEL’S HOUSE

A fully accessible urban home

“When I was climbing the stairs to my third-floor apartment, I didn’t think that would ever be a problem,” Cait Phillips recalls. “And then, suddenly, it was.” Phillips, a Montrealer, suffered a spinal-cord injury in 2016 and became partially paralyzed. Mobility challenges, which are common among elder Canadians, became part of her life.

Phillips and her partner, Mikkel Paulson, suddenly found themselves moving in together and looking for a home that was physically accessible. But the suburbs were not for them; they wanted to remain near their favourite city neighbourhoods. And while larger apartment buildings could provide elevator access, very few of their units were fully physically accessible.

So instead, Phillips and Paulson rebuilt a house. The couple purchased a 1907 greystone in Outremont near Jeanne-Mance Park, and worked with local firm ADHOC Architectes to make it fully accessible. “Our goal was to make the house what we needed, but also to make it beautiful,” Phillips says.

This was a challenge, beginning with the basic problem of how Phillips would enter the house. Its main level is a few metres above ground, and heritage restrictions made it impossible to build a lift on the front. Instead, ADHOC designed a three-storey rear addition with an elevator that links the three levels of the house with a rooftop deck. (The elevator added approximately $100,000 to the cost of the house, Phillips said.) They also designed a new garage (replacing a parking pad) that made room for the couple’s accessible vehicle. “The entire addition was devoted to accessibility,” says ADHOC founder François Martineau, who led the design along with project architect Anna Rocki.

The architects and clients had to make major changes in order to provide full access for Phillips, while at the same time preserving many of the original features of the 1907 interior. The main-floor kitchen was fully renovated to make space for a wheelchair, and to provide cabinets and shelves that Phillips could reach comfortably. ADHOC rebuilt the principal bathroom with an accessible shower and a counter under which a wheelchair can fit.

All this required careful space planning and co-ordination. Walls needed to be framed with extra capacity to anchor grab bars that can support an adult body. At the same time, the architects chose a sophisticated marble-look porcelain tile for the surfaces, creating a space that is both elegant and deeply functional. Today, Phillips says, the house suits her and feels warm and comfortable. “We are living,” she said, “the way we want to.”