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Don River House
Don River House
North York, Toronto, Canada
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Don River House
North York, Toronto, Canada
Firm
Type
STATUS
Built
YEAR
2020
SIZE
3000 sqft - 5000 sqft
BUDGET
$1M - 5M
Dewson Architects Inc. presents Sylvan Living, a mid-century split-level home in North York with a new and sustainable lease on life. Building anything in a city like Toronto can be a challenge – the cost of land, the regulatory environment, and inflated construction budgets make delivering a quality product on time, and on budget, a tall order.
Throw a whole list of regulatory requirements into the mix to appease the client’s desire to build a home that is both gentle on the environment and reflective of their taste and personalities. If that weren’t enough, the unique site abuts protected parkland. All of this is a recipe for a complex, challenging project that would make lesser architects run for the ravines.
But not Dewson Architects, a firm accustomed to complex, challenging projects with numerous stakeholders and regulatory requirements.
The architects’ focus on this project was fourfold:
Renovate a pedestrian, nondescript home that blatantly failed to capitalize on its exceptional site bordering a ravine into a comfortable and luxurious home connected to nature.
Fulfill all regulatory requirements, including satisfying the Toronto Regional Conservation Authority, which has jurisdiction over the site.
Make the renovated home as sustainable as possible while staying within budget constraints.
Give the house another 100-year lease on life.
Designwise, the architects functionally flipped the program to de-emphasize the original design’s orientation and connection to the street. Instead, they opened the living spaces to the side yard, giving the interiors an unparalleled view and functional connection to the ravine landscape beyond the property lines.
All principal living spaces were relocated on the main floor to take advantage of the proximity of nature, while the master suite was designed as a small second-floor addition, giving the impression of living in a luxurious tree house. Lastly, the architects fought for permission to add a rooftop terrace with breathtaking views that expands the house’s space outside in the summer.
The design team managed to fit a number of sustainable features, such as:
Passive ventilation that allows for air-conditioning-less cooling on all but the hottest days.
Building an airtight envelope to minimize cooling and heating loads. The home ended up having an ACH (air changes per hour) of less than 1, vs. the code-minimum of 2.5.
Reusing as much of the foundation as possible to minimize cost and reduce the embodied energy of the project.
Designing a high-performance envelope, with little to no thermal bridging, high insulation ratings, and triple-glazed windows that allow breathtaking views into the ravine.
Turning the main orientation of the house from the street to the shaded side yard.
Using materials, such as the durable cement cladding that will require little maintenance and last for decades.
Dewson’s approach to architecture is what they’ve dubbed “viable sustainability”: looking beyond the strictly environmental performance of a building to consider all aspects of its impact, such as cultural (in the case of rejuvenating centenarian homes), and financial (building within the client’s budget constraints).
Throw a whole list of regulatory requirements into the mix to appease the client’s desire to build a home that is both gentle on the environment and reflective of their taste and personalities. If that weren’t enough, the unique site abuts protected parkland. All of this is a recipe for a complex, challenging project that would make lesser architects run for the ravines.
But not Dewson Architects, a firm accustomed to complex, challenging projects with numerous stakeholders and regulatory requirements.
The architects’ focus on this project was fourfold:
Renovate a pedestrian, nondescript home that blatantly failed to capitalize on its exceptional site bordering a ravine into a comfortable and luxurious home connected to nature.
Fulfill all regulatory requirements, including satisfying the Toronto Regional Conservation Authority, which has jurisdiction over the site.
Make the renovated home as sustainable as possible while staying within budget constraints.
Give the house another 100-year lease on life.
Designwise, the architects functionally flipped the program to de-emphasize the original design’s orientation and connection to the street. Instead, they opened the living spaces to the side yard, giving the interiors an unparalleled view and functional connection to the ravine landscape beyond the property lines.
All principal living spaces were relocated on the main floor to take advantage of the proximity of nature, while the master suite was designed as a small second-floor addition, giving the impression of living in a luxurious tree house. Lastly, the architects fought for permission to add a rooftop terrace with breathtaking views that expands the house’s space outside in the summer.
The design team managed to fit a number of sustainable features, such as:
Passive ventilation that allows for air-conditioning-less cooling on all but the hottest days.
Building an airtight envelope to minimize cooling and heating loads. The home ended up having an ACH (air changes per hour) of less than 1, vs. the code-minimum of 2.5.
Reusing as much of the foundation as possible to minimize cost and reduce the embodied energy of the project.
Designing a high-performance envelope, with little to no thermal bridging, high insulation ratings, and triple-glazed windows that allow breathtaking views into the ravine.
Turning the main orientation of the house from the street to the shaded side yard.
Using materials, such as the durable cement cladding that will require little maintenance and last for decades.
Dewson’s approach to architecture is what they’ve dubbed “viable sustainability”: looking beyond the strictly environmental performance of a building to consider all aspects of its impact, such as cultural (in the case of rejuvenating centenarian homes), and financial (building within the client’s budget constraints).
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