Toronto's House 60 By Gh3 Inc. - Canadian Real Estate Housing And Home

Located on a deep lot in Toronto‘s residential district of Cedarvale, this residence (known as House 60) stands out amidst its neighbouring red brick pitched-roof homes from the 1950s postwar era.

House 60 is a renovation and addition project by Gh3 Inc. that converted a 50’s suburban house into what is essentially a übermodern loft for a single family with three children.

In keeping with the firm’s principles of sustainability, the decision was made to strip the building down to its frame and then build anew around that frame rather than start from scratch. The completed project showcases an entirely new house that brings a fresh aesthetic to its surroundings.

The pitched roof and brick facade are gone and in their place is a modern composition of stucco and glass.

The existing house was largely introverted; It had a traditional cut-up floor plan that has been replaced with continuous open spaces. This is defined by multiple window openings that cause the rooms to mesh and flow poetically with one another.

The ground floor of the house is wide open to accommodate effortless circulation flow and the boisterous life of a young and growing family. It flaunts floor-to-ceiling glass panels that are strategically positioned to visually connect the primary living spaces. These panels are also fritted with a flocked pattern that emphasizes the whiteness of the interior.

A formerly undistinguished building from the exterior, much of the house was re–skinned resulting in 2 new facades. A view through the 2–storey glass wall at the rear of the house explodes with bright vistas across the backyard, a stand of trees, and a schoolyard next door. The 1–storey glass wall at front of the house serves as a modern day front porch and welcomes views from the quiet side street.

The existing pitched roof was replaced with a flat roof peppered with multiple skylights that beautifully maximize the admission of daylight and facilitate passive ventilation.

The lightness and airiness that this glazing offers penetrate throughout the home.

Perhaps one of the most interesting features of this project was the management of storage space; It is evident, or rather, cleverly inevident in almost every space within the home. The principle living spaces are flanked longitudinally on both sides with service zones, each about a metre deep, containing storage space, media and entertainment units, the fireplace, a pantry, bar, stairs and mechanical spaces.

These are hidden behind full–height pivoting wall panels that blend right in with the walls. This takes minimalism beyond the architecture and into the family’s lifestyle. It also means the interior doesn’t play host to a clumsy collection of closet doors, allowing the spaces to be united.

This home embraces the modernist ideals of openness, transparency and light with its 3.4-metre ceilings, polished concrete floors and stainless steel cabinetry and heavy glazing. However, it still embodies that sense of warm domesticity, balancing a serene space with the demands and clutter of normal family life.

Come to think of it, the project seems to align itself with Corbusian principles. Not only is it a black version of the white box aesthetic of the modern movement, it exemplifies the ideology of the house as a machine or living in with its stringent functionality and focus on efficiency. There is even a modernist absence of ornament, leaving the living spaces refreshingly empty and reminiscent of a still life.

The resulting design is very logical and straightforward. The house reads almost like a study in contrasts; the traditional notions of domesticity versus the modern design choices, the dark solidity of the black stucco cladding versus the open transparency of the glass walls, the ebony hardwood floors versus the stark white of most everything else. The way Gh3 Inc. designed this residence teaches us that there can always be a new way to approach family living.