Paradoxical architecture: Toronto house breaks tradition with key residential motif

by arslan_ahmed | January 13, 2024 9:00 am

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StudioAC has introduced Everden, its new single-family residence. The aim was to create a contemporary home, unique and personal to the homeowners, while still having cues to the traditional ideas of “house”. What followed was a three-storey form, reading as stacked boxes, carrying the motif of “house” throughout the interior.

While a gabled roof is one of the quintessential icons of “house”, the studio wanted to elevate this phenomenon beyond motif to a spatial experience that defined a narrative throughout the project. While the gabled space on level 3 follows the roof’s contours, it was also decided that the ground floor—often relegated to cubic space—should be provided with a gable extrusion as well to enhance the sense of “house” across the shared living spaces. This combined a planometric and material direction that would emphasize a three-dimensional stacking and staggering that plays with the definition between form, space, and motif.

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The Everden house places much of its emphasis on the experience of space, allowing for flexibility with material expression. This approach was integral to working with the clients’ budget strategy and thesis: to create a project that is impactful without being indulgent. The house features an exterior cladding of corrugated metal—durable, affordable, and familiar. The material is elevated through the precise detailing of levels and parapets to create the illusion of stacked boxes. Similarly, the interior focuses on one critical move: the peaked ceiling scape. This allowed other details to become secondary and, in doing so, more cost-effective.

Source URL: https://www.constructioncanada.net/paradoxical-architecture-toronto-house-breaks-tradition-with-key-residential-motif/

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