Through House
This narrow 130-year-old residence, located on a small lot in a dense downtown neighbourhood, required a complete overhaul to fulfill the owner’s desire for modern living in a home filled with light and open spaces. To preserve the intimate rear garden, the design challenge was to create a more spacious interior without increasing the footprint of the house.
The previously dark and cramped interior was carved out to produce bright, airy spaces connected through an open plan. A floating, open-riser stair at the centre of the house is topped with a large overhead skylight, which allows light to penetrate deep into the interior. Custom, built-in elements such as the stacked felt-clad fireplace delineate areas without closing off one room from another. Materials and built-ins emphasize linearity, creating the perception of expanding and stretching the interior space, directing the eye through the house towards the garden.
To strengthen this visual connection, large floor-to-ceiling glass panes help dissolve the boundary between indoors and outdoors and extend the ground floor living area into the backyard. The interior flooring material is carried through to the exterior, further emphasizing continuity between the two. An overhead wood and steel trellis defines an intimate outdoor room off the small living room. A horizontal whitened wood fence and deck envelops the back garden which is defined by recessed planters - containing fragrant lavender, colourful grasses, and Japanese maple trees - arranged to create the feeling of separate ‘rooms’ within the larger whole. The result is an intimate outdoor courtyard that changes with each season, complementing this light-filled, serene interior.
Awards
- Canadian Green Building Award
- Ontario Association of Architects Award
- Ontario Association of Architects Award
- Azure AZ Award
- Azure AZ Award
- Ceramics of Italy competition
- Re-Thinking The Future Awards
- CID Awards
Publications
- Globe & Mail, “A Feel for Felt”
- Designlines, “Inner Glow”
- Toronto Life Home Guide, “The Directory”
- Dwell.com, “Through House in Toronto, Canada”
- No Mean City, “Dubbeldam Architecture's Through House”
- SABMag, “2013 Winning Project - Through House”
- EcoHouse Canada, “2013 Winning Residential Project - Through House, Toronto”
- Globe & Mail Real Estate, “Thoroughly Modern Victorian”
- Vart Nya Hus, “Modernt Stadshus Med Anor”
- Canadian Interiors, “Go With the Flow”
- Toronto Life Real Estate, “Cover”
- National Post - Post Homes, “His Daily Remedy”
- International Architecture & Design, “Finding Flow”
- Azure Magazine, “The Winner's Circle”
- Grand Designs, UK, “Stamp of Approval”
- Cer Magazine, “Urban Oase”
- Architectural Digest, “You don't have to turn your house into a spaceship to go green”
- Open Concept Houses, “Skygarden House, Through House”
- Designlines , “Seven Terrific Ways to Use Slatted Wood”
News Items
- May 2013 - Through house featured on Dwell.com
- Jun 2013 - Through House wins one of eight Canadian Green Building Awards
- Jul 2013 - Through House on the cover of Globe & Mail Real Estate
- Feb 2013 - Through House featured on cover of Design Lines Spring 2013 issue
- Feb 2014 - Through House wins Ontario Association of Architects Design Excellence award
- Jan 2014 - Through House featured in Sweden's Vart Nya Hus magazine
- Jan 2014 - Through house featured in Canadian Interiors magazine Houses issue
- Mar 2014 - Through house featured on the cover of Toronto Life real estate guide
- Apr 2014 – Through house short-listed for Azure award
- May 2014 - Through house wins an Award of Excellence and the People's Choice award at the OAA Awards
- Jun 2014 - Through house wins an Award of Merit and the People's Choice award at the Azure AZ Awards
- Aug 2014 - Through house featured in London UK magazine Grand Designs
- Dec 2014 – 2014 rounds out with 5 awards for DUBBELDAM projects