The brief: transform an apartment to make it feel like an art gallery, so austere that the owner’s guests would find it unflinchingly cold. Architect Jean-Maxime Labrecque met this ostentatious challenge by gutting the 74-square-metre space to its original concrete shell, and devising a sophisticated raw aluminum system measuring 4.5 by 7.5 metres and equipped with sliding doors attached only at the top. This supports multi-functional modules, including a bed, a generous closet, kitchen cabinetry and seating. The bathroom, finished entirely in black tile, is housed in an old concrete vault. ­

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