Project Details
- Project Name
- A Room with a View
- Architect
- Superkül
- Project Types
- Single Family
- Project Scope
- Renovation/Remodel
- Size
- 665 sq. feet
- Year Completed
- 2017
- Awards
- 2018 Remodeling Design Awards
- Project Status
- Built
- Room or Space
- Bath
2018 Remodeling Design Awards
Bathroom Remodeling $50,000 and Over: Grand
Creating an oasis of serenity for the master bath in a place where nature predominates was the prime goal of this recent Toronto remodel.
While the remodel encompassed reconfiguring the second floor to provide a master bedroom suite and a library-office, as well as reworking the third-floor bedrooms for the couple’s two daughters, the heart of the project was the master bath.
The couple particularly desired to bring outdoor views and natural light into the space, so the architect shifted the position of the bedroom from the front of the house to the back.
“We had done a cottage for her before, and she loved the big windows and wood walls we used, so that was what she wanted here,” says architect Meg Graham, whose firm, superkűl, took on the project.
Instead of the cedar boards she had used in the client’s cottage, the architect used the more refined and lighter-hued white oak in wider board widths for the master suite. The white oak creates a soothing feeling of warmth and lightness that suits the homeowners’ desire for tranquility.
“The wife tells us that she finds it very hard to leave the suite,” Graham says.
The back of the house has a southern exposure and overlooks the abundant trees on the property and in the adjacent park. To capture those views, the team designed an immense window that stretches from floor to ceiling and wall to wall.
There is a floating privacy wall edged in blackened steel that separates the freestanding tub from the bedroom. On the bedroom side, the wall is sheathed in white oak; on the bathroom side, the wall is covered with handmade Moroccan tiles in muted pink and white and arranged in a geometric pattern.
The tiles continue onto the floor beneath the tub. The tub itself holds solitary sway in this tranquil space in front of the south-facing window and beneath a skylight, which emerges as the room’s focal point.
The opening in the ceiling replicates the shape of the tile inlay on the floor, says Graham, and “we flared out the vault of the skylight to spread out the light.” White oak cases the skylight vault, and the sculptural void channels ever-changing patterns of light into the space throughout the day.
The real challenge in the project was to get all the wood lined up, especially for the skylight. “There was a lot of precision involved in putting wood on the walls and ceiling,” Graham says.
The remainder of the bathroom, tucked within the narrowed core of the second floor, is configured as a widened corridor with shower and sinks on one side, toilet on the other. “We recessed the baseboards around the shower and used Laminam, a thin sheet porcelain product that you can get in large sheets,” Graham says. “You can really minimize the number of grout lines.”
Just beyond is a generously scaled walk-in closet. A floor-to-ceiling mirror on the closet’s back wall reflects the lush greenery of the garden and park, amplifying the relationship to the outdoors. The new library-office lays just beyond, with a street-side view.
A pleasing juxtaposition to all the natural materials in play in the space is the architect’s use of the same blackened steel that borders the floating wall to frame the windows. Matte black fixtures mounted on the ceiling and wall complement the framing materials.
Project Description
FROM THE FIRM:
This transformative intervention to a home in midtown Toronto comprises a complete renovation and addition to the second and third floors, reorganizing and rearticulating the private spaces to meet a young family’s evolving needs, offering both parents and their growing children greater privacy through spatial separation. The poetic heart of the project locates itself in the master suite and bathroom on the second floor, which, in warmer months, draws in the majesty of the abundant trees on the property and in the adjacent park.