This project is located in North York. The neighborhood was originally part of the city’s post war suburbanization, but has since become both amalgamated and rebuilt. Most houses in this neighborhood have been built in the last 15 years – replacing almost all of the original post-war modern one-storey bungalows. The local zoning by-laws allow for much larger houses than were originally built and all sites are typically built to their maximum.

This house is also large but is built around principles of family use that are very different from the surrounding houses. The house is for a family of five and accommodates intensive use areas for the children. Study and work spaces, as well as a large interior gym, are woven into the typical program elements of the house. There are numerous courtyards of varying scales, which permeate the house at different levels, providing a range of visual and direct physical connections to the exterior while also providing abundant natural light and reinforcing the family’s values of gathering, academics, and physical activity.





Photos 1-3 by Scott Norsworthy