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Garden Avenue Laneway House
By : Williamson Williamson & Suzanne Wilkinson
GRANDS PRIX DU DESIGN – 16th edition
Discipline : Architecture : Grand Winner
Categories : Other categories in architecture / Facade : Platinum Winner
Categories : Residential Building / Residential annex : Platinum Winner
Categories : Special Award / Architecture + Materials : Gold Certification
For a couple in Toronto, conversations about a dream home began with a nine-metre-wide lot with a laneway in the back. The family wanted to connect to the neighbourhood, have large living spaces for their three teenage boys, and create private light-filled bedrooms centered around a central courtyard. Early models were built, understanding that the economics of the project would mean first designing and constructing a Laneway Suite for the family to live in during construction, which would then provide rental income in perpetuity.
As focus turned to the Laneway Suite, the planning quickly pushed the limits of what is allowable under the Laneway Suite By-Law. The owners began to understand that the unique quality of space possible in the Laneway Suite had more value to them than the quantity of space in the main house – and a redesign of the Laneway Suite into the dream home began. The main house was then simply converted into a legal two-unit rental property, the Principal Rental, allowing for three families on one single-family-lot.
The Garden Laneway House is a 214 square metre four-bedroom home. Whereas most of the laneway suites built in Toronto under the 2018 by-law are small rental units or bonus rooms that add amenity and area to a main house, this laneway suite was designed to be a primary residence.
The family uses the laneway as their front door. The entrance is recessed under the carport canopy clad in charred Japanese cedar, ensuring privacy from the cars that access the garages surrounding the home. The facades facing the street and the laneway, south and north respectively, are primarily solid. Animating the brick facade breaks up this solidity with pattern and shadow. As the bricks are rotated out of plane, they create a triangular shadow pattern on the flat course below.
Built-in storage gives way to three ample bedrooms designed to accommodate teenage boys. Ascending the open-tread staircase to the second level, the space unfolds into a bright and open living area. A tall south-facing window connects the laneway house back to Garden Avenue. A twelve-foot-wide sliding window faces north at the dining table and views the canopies of neighbouring trees. A west facing clerestory window caps the kitchen backsplash while light from above is filtered through both a sculptural skylight above the dining table and a large operable skylight above the stair to the roof garden. In the below-grade space, the primary bedroom is tucked away into a private enclave that features a tranquil atmosphere complete with a spa-like ensuite and walk-out underground garden.
This passion project evolved into a unique, functional, family home that reimagines the possibilities for laneway properties and small-scale urban densification. This home effectively mitigates the downside that is commonly associated with laneway homes such as limited space, lack of privacy and unappealing sightlines. What began as a single-family home in a community of detached houses has been transformed into a property that can comfortably house three families.
Collaboration
