Projects
Shavasana House
This house in on the unusual and eclectic Hocken Ave. in downtown Toronto focuses on quality over quantity. It is comfortable, peaceful, private, bright, compact, efficient and calming to the spirit. This was achieved through the use of a limited pallete of materials - Zinc, Stone, Oak, Concrete, Glass and Chrome. The use of carefully placed skylights and windows provide daylight, beautiful views of the Linden tree while enhancing the home's comfort level. Radiant heating, interior and exterior insulation in walls, LED lighting and other quality features keep the home quiet and extremely comfortable. Built-in storage ensures that rooms do not require a lot of furniture so pieces can be carefully selected, crafted items bought with purpose and thought reflective of the rooms they will occupy.
Photography by Brenda Liu
St. Clements House
A modern addition and interior renovation to a much loved original brick home. A durable light filled peaceful home integrated with the original house and maintaining the character of the street. This home incorporates the best qualities of the original home and integrates the new addition with the existing home and the garden creating two generous terraces surrounded by the main living spaces. The interior flows quietly from the main entry through the living/dining and down to the kitchen and family room adjacent to the gardens. The central stair is the connecting link opening up the home to all of its spaces and light from the surrounding terraces and gardens. Polished concrete and radiant heated floors were used for durability and comfort.
Photography by Brenda Liu
Forest Hill House
This project included a complete redesign of an existing home in Forest Hill including additions to the West of the original house and a redesign of the gardens including a new roof garden. The goal was to seamlessly integrate the new additions with the original home. The use of traditional materials such as Indiana Limestone, stucco, slate and copper helped enhance the existing house and extend it. The interior spaces were created to separate private and public areas and were finished with a variety of types of stone, wood and metal that will age gracefully with the home. Attention to detail, quality of workmanship and durability are evident throughout the home – it was designed and built to last for centuries.
Photography by Brenda Liu
Entry & Mud Room Project
This new entry area emerged as a necessity for a large home in Toronto that required an interior linkage between an existing garage and the back door of the house. Designated as historical due to the architect who designed the home the work done had to fit within this designation. The mud room addition links the garage to the house and provides much needed storage for a busy family. The space has effectively linked the original rear entry to the garage and provided an elegant crush space to unload parcels, bags, coats & keys. The entry door was specially designed to capture a moment in the client’s lives with the windows aligning to the family’s current eye heights. Materials used include Cortan steel cladding, Douglas fir trim, doors, and millwork, concrete floors, exposed steel, and wall paper.
Photography by Brenda Liu
Garden Pavillion
The Garden Pavillion was designed as a three season living room from which to enjoy the views of an exquisite urban garden. The room opens fully to the garden surrounding it, and frames the views back to the house, pool, great lawn, woodland, and fire circle. It is purposefully built in a simple elegant palette of materials including a polished concrete floor (with radiant heating), zinc clad exterior with a black patina, simple plaster ceiling, and an aluminum & stone bar. A dark exterior helps it blend quietly with the surroundings, and also contrast to the light Indiana Limestone & Stucco main house. In every respect the pavillion is a quiet retreat from the main house where you can feel as if you have left the city behind, and relax surrounded by a beautiful woodland garden, and the sounds of nature.
Photography by Brenda Liu
Hardwood Cottage
Located on a stunning property overlooking Hardwood Lake in Haliburton, Ontario this cottage was designed for use in three seasons. The vision for the cottage grew out of its location and the clients' description of its use. Built using traditional timber frame techniques, all of the structure exposed to the interior. There are no interior walls - the idea was to have each space overlooking the others and to divide the spaces by level changes, wood screens and built-in storage. The building has a small footprint of approx. 20'x30' and was built over the previous hunting cabin which allowed its placement to be very close to the edge of the lake. Materials used include Douglas fir, pine, concrete, stone and bronze. The cottage has a magical, tranquil atmosphere and a playfulness between the volumes, multi levels, natural light and surrounding cantilevered concrete walkway. The design includes a two-seater outhouse, sauna, outdoor shower, built-in furniture, stairs, wood screens and docks.
Photography by Bev McMullen
Bright House
The design of Bright House formed around the main principals of sunlight penetrating the innermost areas of the home, the needs for four adults in two distinct dwellings, privacy between spaces, music-jamming, and wellbeing. It is a playful interpretation of light-dark, void-solid, and hard-soft. Pathways to each area in which light both natural and artificial push through the space to create multiple volumes within the home in a dance of light and shadow. The brightest area of the home is in the center, a 3 storey atrium with a winding stair which brings you through the middle and drops you gently at each of the three levels, providing bursts of brilliant light and ventilation. While travelling through the center of the home you feel the connection and continuity of the spaces while at the same time sense the privacy of the rooms out of sight. The house is a tribute to the perseverance and grit of the client to push through challenges along
the way and invest time, energy, and money into building a special home for her family. Read a detailed description of every floor in Bright House.
Photography by Xavier Fox