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
![Canvas House exterior detail](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/naRGPd4Kawj7qJQUMfD6Rj-415-80.jpg)
Just by laying eyes on Canvas House, it is clear there's something special going on in this part of the sleepy Forest Hill neighbourhood of Toronto. The home's wavy brick façade brings a subtle, sculptural quality to the residential street – while inside, minimalist architecture interiors make for a perfect, elegant backdrop for the owners' extensive art collection. The house's creators, local architecture studio Partisans, drew on the massing of the surrounding Georgian houses to carve a square-ish dwelling featuring a distinctive, undulating skin.
Canvas House: behind the façade
The monochromatic, off-white patterns on Canvas House's façades create a playful juxtaposition to the period character and symmetry in the surrounding homes. The architects write: 'The rhythmic façade responds to function by swelling outward to form an overhang above the door and receding to allow light around the second-floor skylight. The movement within the masonry is unscripted yet arranged like the motions of a theatre drape, which is an ode to the client's background in theatre production.'
The design pushes modern masonry techniques to the limit, coming together to form randomised patterns made of a repeating unit of five bricks. The whole was inspired by painter Larry Poons' early works.
Inside, the building fabric becomes smoother, a white envelope bathed in light and shadow play throughout the day. Gentle curves in the volumes and features – such as the staircase, door handles and fireplace – bring subtle dynamism to the interior.
Elsewhere, clean white walls make for a gallery like feel where paintings can be hang and take centre stage. It all 'results in a calm, airy, contemplative interior, an apt home for a captivating contemporary art collection', the architects write.
Wallpaper* Newsletter + Free Download
For a free digital copy of August Wallpaper*, celebrating Creative America, sign up today to receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories
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).
-
‘Hedonistic and avant-garde’: Rabanne’s Julian Dossena on the legacy of the chainmail 1969 bag
Paco Rabanne’s 1969 chainmail handbag encapsulates the late designer’s futuristic, space-age style. Current creative director Julien Dossena tells Wallpaper* about the bag’s particular pleasures
By Jack Moss Published
-
Postcard from Paris: Olympic fever takes over the streets
On the eve of the opening ceremony of Paris 2024, our correspondent shares her views from the streets of the capital about how the event is impacting the urban landscape.
By Minako Norimatsu Published
-
The Mercury Prize nominees for 2024 have been revealed
Charli XCX, The Last Dinner Party and Beth Gibbons are amongst this year's nominees
By Charlotte Gunn Published
-
A dramatic new lakeside cabin in the Canadian wilderness rises above the trees
Kariouk Architects' lakeside cabin ‘m.o.r.e. CLT’ explores new material approaches while making a minimal impact on a precious landscape
By Jonathan Bell Published
-
Forest Retreat is a new low-energy family house in the forests of Ontario
Set beneath a vast roof, Forest Retreat is a rich mix of local materials, craftsmanship and space for an extended family to get together in the heart of nature
By Jonathan Bell Published
-
Join the West Coast Modern Week's Home Tour 2024 for modernist architecture and more
West Coast Modern Week 2024 comes with its annual home tour courtesy of the West Vancouver Art Museum, offering an extensive, immersive showcase of Canada's modernist architecture
By Hadani Ditmars Published
-
A modernist lakeside cottage in Ontario provides a perfect backdrop for family vacations
A lakeside cottage by Canadian studio Dubbeldam Architecture + Design has been shaped as a modest multigenerational retreat to accommodate the surrounding wilderness
By Jonathan Bell Published
-
Visit a cubic Canadian cabin in the woods: welcome to Rustic Grade
Maurice Martel has designed a contemporary cabin in the woods, Rustic Grade, to make the most of a sylvan plot to the north of Montreal
By Jonathan Bell Published
-
Whistling Wind is a remote Canadian cottage retreat to reconnect with nature
Whistling Wind house is an elegant escape on a remote Ontario island that offers up a contemporary reinterpretation of the local vernacular
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
A Whistler cabin offers a ‘transcendent experience’ to its occupants
Openspace Architecture’s Winterfell house is a Whistler cabin and luxurious contemporary ski retreat nestled within the forest
By Jonathan Bell Published
-
A far-flung Nova Scotia retreat is a minimalist prefab exploration
Perched on the shores of Cape Breton Island this Nova Scotia retreat by Nicholas Fudge Architects combines prefabricated construction with traditional forms and minimal design
By Jonathan Bell Published