Toronto home by StudioAC is a balance of volumes and ideas
Everden house, a Toronto home by StudioAC, is a balance of traditional and contemporary
The clients of Everden house, a new-build Toronto home, asked for an ‘unapologetically contemporary’ residence, when they approached local architects StudioAC with the commission; and they certainly got their wish. The project, set in a residential suburb, was created with a distinctly 21st-century feel, a mix of clean shapes, warm wood and minimalist architecture. At the same time, it responds to the desire of the owners – a family – to have something ‘unique', while retaining cues to the traditional ideas of a ‘house’.
The result? A three-storey residence made up of a stack of geometric volumes that culminate to a distinctive gabled roof. Tall and slender, if you squint, the home might even appear like a typical narrow terrace. But upon approach, it is clearly a contemporary construction, conceived to interpret archetypal visions of the house into a modern domestic space. The experience of walking through and living in the house, with its wood-clad interiors and large windows, should evoke the feeling of a space that is impactful, ‘but not indulgent’, according to its authors.
The architects, headed by studio founders Jennifer Kudlats and Andrew Hill, elaborate: ‘We were interested in elevating this phenomenon beyond motif to a spatial experience that defined a narrative throughout the project. A gabled space on level three relates to the roofline, but a decision was made that the ground floor, often relegated to cubic space, should be provided with a gable extrusion as well, enhancing the sense of “house” across the shared living spaces. This combined a planometric and material direction that would emphasise a three-dimensional stacking and staggering that plays with the definition between form, space and motif.'
The design aims for something timeless but also livable, offering a balance between an exploration of an architectural theme, and a real family home. The interior's warm and hardwearing timber surfaces are offset by a somewhat harder exterior, clad in corrugated metal – it's ‘durable, affordable and familiar', the architects explain. It's just one more of the contrasts that give this Toronto home its identity, making it a subtle equilibrium of elements that seem at odds, but instead come together in a very contented whole.
INFORMATION
Wallpaper* Newsletter
Receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox
Ellie Stathaki is the Architecture & Environment Director at Wallpaper*. She trained as an architect at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in Greece and studied architectural history at the Bartlett in London. Now an established journalist, she has been a member of the Wallpaper* team since 2006, visiting buildings across the globe and interviewing leading architects such as Tadao Ando and Rem Koolhaas. Ellie has also taken part in judging panels, moderated events, curated shows and contributed in books, such as The Contemporary House (Thames & Hudson, 2018), Glenn Sestig Architecture Diary (2020) and House London (2022).
-
Berlinde De Bruyckere’s angels without faces touch down in Venice church
Belgian artist Berlinde De Bruyckere’s recent archangel sculptures occupy the 16th-century white marble Abbazia di San Giorgio Maggiore for the Venice Biennale 2024
By Osman Can Yerebakan Published
-
Discover Acqua di Parma’s new Mandarino di Sicilia fragrance at Milan Design Week 2024
Acqua di Parma and Fornice Objects bring the splendour of Sicilian mandarin fields to Milan to celebrate new fragrance Mandarino di Sicilia
By Simon Mills Published
-
First look at Samba Room, London’s innovative cocktail lounge packed with Brazilian energy
London’s Samba Room, an extension of SushiSamba, is a dynamic bar, lounge and private dining space designed by Fabled Studio
By Tianna Williams Published
-
Downs House II inspires West Coast Modern campaign in Vancouver
Downs House II, currently on the market in Vancouver, inspires a West Coast Modern campaign to save the modernist landmark
By Hadani Ditmars Published
-
Toronto’s Rolex boutique wows with dynamic façade
This Rolex boutique in Toronto features a dynamic, wavy façade in CNC-cut limestone created by local architecture studio Partisans
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
Promenade Samuel-de Champlain is a riverside boulevard championing urban green
Promenade Samuel-de Champlain in Quebec gives the city’s river back to its community, transforming a previously neglected urban space
By Tianna Williams Published
-
Chez Léon is a contemporary Canadian retreat in the Quebec countryside
This Canadian retreat, an elegant update of the classic cabin in the woods, is part ski lodge, part tree house, combining traditional materials and stunning views with a light footprint
By Jonathan Bell Published
-
House in High Park is a Toronto home to be discovered slowly
House in High Park by Ian MacDonald Architect is a new-build home in Toronto that takes a problematic plot and transforms it into an exhilarating, contemporary residence
By Ellen Himelfarb Published
-
This Québec school evokes a calming atmosphere in tune with nature
This redesigned Québec school inspires a new paradigm in its architecture genre by creating a welcoming, home-like and nature-inspired environment
By Tianna Williams Published
-
Canvas House’s wavy brick façade stands out in its suburban Toronto context
Canvas House by Partisans brings a wavy brick façade to its sleepy Toronto suburban neighbourhood
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
Discover Dyde House, a lesser known Arthur Erickson gem
Dyde House by modernist architect Arthur Erickson is celebrated in a new film, premiered in Canada
By Hadani Ditmars Published