MYTO unfolds concrete furniture for inner courtyard in montreal, canada

located in montreal, MYTO has completed the backyard of a single-family house. the owners, a young couple living in the united states, wanted to transform the outdoor space into a cozy and welcoming place, perfect for weekend get-togethers with friends. to achieve the goal, the practice had to overcome a challenge: designing furnishings suitable for the long 446 sq ft space.

‘we had to work with this particular volume. that inspired us to design linear furniture, stretched out like a ribbon along the entire length of the yard. so our table becomes a low seat under the japanese maple, and a double chaise longue where the sunshine hits the ground,’ MYTO explains. the multifunctional furniture can be used in many different ways depending on the user’s mood and time of day – for having a meal, enjoying a cocktail, chatting, relaxing or even taking a nap.

the MYTO team also had to work with a prerequisite: the layout needed to be easy to maintain and able to withstand any weather. for the table, they chose to combine an aluminum frame with a concrete top. this material, with just 1% porosity, is fully waterproof and humidity-resistant, and most importantly it is much lighter than conventional concrete. ‘a half-inch of thickness is enough, whereas conventional concrete would have had to be two or three inches thick to achieve the same resistance,’ they explain. the designers chose an almost-white grey, contrasting with the large, 24 x 24 black paving stones. the end result is that the furniture seems to emerge from the ground like a wave.

lastly, to enhance the intimate ambience and make the space completely private, the designers installed a wooden fence at the back of the yard. the wooden slats were cut at an angle to admit light while preventing passers-by in the back alley from peering into the courtyard.

project info:

name: the inner courtyard

architects: MYTO

location: montreal, canada