d+a | Issue 116 • Jun/July 2020

8 / MOOD BOARD / S oaring atriums are a popular architectural feature and North American firm RobitailleCurtis Inc. has put a unique twist to it in its project Atrium Townhouse. THE ATRIUM OF THIS HOME HAS A SPECIAL FEATURE THAT WILL EVOKE DELIGHT. NET EFFECT WORDS LOW SHI PING / PHOTOGRAPHY ADRIEN WILLIAMS & MARC CRAMER Located in Montreal, Canada, the home features a three-storey void with a netting stretching across the top floor, where the children’s rooms are situated. This converts the space into a play area for the young ones (and adults too) and also adds to the sense of openness on that level, since guardrails become unnecessary. Above it, a sawtooth sky light lets in natural daylight into the house. Riggers from Cirque du Soleil installed the trapeze net to give it an additional level of safety. Further accentuating the atrium is a two-storey bookcase and vertical-grain, Douglas Fir slats. The latter stands out against the white colour palette, making it eye-catching and drawing the gaze up to the trapeze net.