LOCATION: Toronto, Ontario

ARCHITECT: LINEVISION Architects

DESIGN LEADERSHIP: Michael Poitras, Principal-in-Charge of Design

CLIENT: Withheld

STATISTICS:

• No. of storeys: 2 (complete with finished basement and finished attic space)
• Total floor area: 3,200 ft2 (300 m2)

Materials:

• Dry-stacked stone & landscape walls
• Vertical tonge & groove cedar siding
• Prefinished metal white soffits
• Wood doors & windows
• Grey asphalt shingle roof

General Program:

• Open concept living/dining/kitchen
• Master bedroom/ensuite
• 2 bedrooms
• 3 washrooms
• Guest bedroom/office (attic space)
• Guest bedroom/family room (finished basement)
• 3 fireplaces

Cost: Withheld

Completion: Unbuilt

High Park Residence

This project in Toronto’s High Park district involved the demolition of a small turn-of-the-century house and the construction of a new, larger, contemporary home.

The clients, a conservative couple with young children, did not want their house to “stand out” from their neighbours. Specifically, they wanted it to “blend in” with their suburban community.

Uniquely sited next to two parks, one to the north (beside the house) and one to the east (across the street), the house’s stone and wood material pallet was selected from those materials which would be naturally found within the park itself. Conceptually, the house’s facades and roof express the difference between the street side of the house (traditional, private and closed) and the backyard (modern, public and open).

To express the difference from front to back, we blended an Arts and Crafts inspired front façade with a tapering roof that transitions to a low modern roof at the property’s backyard. This modulation of roof shape clearly speaks to this concept of differences.

Other details include a low wood storage wall at the side of the house for gardening tools (in lieu of a traditional garage) and a low stone wall at the front of the house complete with an outdoor terrace, which provides a semi-private porch for outdoor use, just off the dining room.