# Narrative-Driven Home Design Approaches Michael Godmer Studio Completed the De l’Épée Residence By Kalin Ned | Published 2026-02-11 | Art & Design Source: Trend Hunter, https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/michael-godmer References: [leibal](https://leibal.com/interiors/de-lepee-residence/) & [v2com-newswire](https://www.v2com-newswire.com/en/newsroom/categories/residential-interior-design/press-kits/3189-02/de-l-epee-residence) [Michael Godmer Studio](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/united-flags-of-fashion) completed the de l’Épée Residence as a [full-scale renovation of a century-old home](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/sutton-house) in Montreal’s Outremont neighborhood. The transformation began as a casual exploratory conversation and transitioned into a yearlong collaborative process that treated the house as a sensitive archive of its owners’ lives. Michael Godmer Studio's clients for the de l’Épée Residence development were an art therapist and a social programs manager who had lived internationally before returning to Montreal with their two children. The clients were not seeking a stylistic overhaul but rather an architectural language capable of holding the cultural fragments, memories, and spatial experiences they had gathered over years of travel. Rather than impose a predetermined aesthetic, Michael Godmer Studio approached the existing structure as a partner in dialogue, preserving the warm woodwork, central staircase, and generous proportions that defined the house’s heritage while introducing new interventions that soften its character. Image Credit: Maxime Brouillet ## Trend Insights (Trend Hunter) - Score: 7.6/10 - Popularity: 98% | Activity: 66% | Freshness: 65% - Audience gender: 50% men, 50% women - Primary generations: Millennial, Gen X - Top markets: North America ## Categories [Trend Hunter](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends) > [Art & Design](https://www.trendhunter.com/artdesign) > [Design](https://www.trendhunter.com/design) ## Key Themes ### Key Themes Behind This Trend - **Narrative-driven Design:** Integrating personal histories and cultural fragments into spatial programs reveals potential for customizable architecture systems that encode and adapt living narratives over time. - **Adaptive Heritage Preservation:** Treating historic elements as active partners in renovation highlights scalable methods for reversible interventions and material systems that preserve character while supporting modern functions. - **Collaborative Client-centric Process:** Design processes built around extended dialogue with occupants point to service models and digital platforms that mediate ongoing co-creation between firms and households. ### Where This Applies - **Residential Architecture:** A focus on memory-rich, non-stylistic interventions suggests market demand for firms offering configurable design frameworks that accommodate diverse cultural and experiential inputs. - **Interior Design Consultancy:** Emphasizing emotional and archival aspects of interiors signals room for consultancies to develop narrative-mapping tools and personalized specification libraries for long-term habitation. - **Cultural Heritage Restoration:** Prioritizing preservation alongside selective modernization indicates pathways for hybrid restoration practices that integrate conservation science with adaptive living requirements. ## Related on Trend Hunter - [Contemporary Mountainous Homes](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/mountainous-home.md) - [Renovated Victorian Toronto Homes](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/flow-house.md) - [Paris Stable-Transformed Homes](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/garibaldi.md) - [Compact Stone Conversions](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/figuier-house.md) - [Functional Modern Dwellings](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/maplewood-residence.md) - [Minimalist Semi-Detached Victorian Residences](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/semidetached-victorian-residence.md) - [Family Cottage Revitalizations](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/le-local-design.md) - [Forested Residential Projects](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/em-architecture.md) - [Historically Inspired Modern Homes](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/mu-architectures.md)