Grange Triple Double

Project Details

Project Description

A corner lot in Toronto's Chinatown is the site for a multi-unit and multi-generational housing prototype. Stacking rental units and a grandparent’s suite below a single family home recognizes the possibilities of intensification latent in the morphology of Toronto’s urban fabric. The house allows for autonomy while mutually benefiting from proximity – the grandparents care for their grandchild and embrace the security of being looked after as they age. The young couple gains a single family home in a city that is becoming unaffordable to new families. A rental unit allows the family to maximize built form in a city that has ever increasing land values and construction costs. (refer to proforma - space, time and money) Research into the allowable unit types previously approved by the City (refer to typology diagram) provides the raw material for the spatial organization of the project. A second suite, plus a duplex, plus a bed-sitting room gives us the right mix of unit types to make this project work, albeit in an unconventional form. Increasing density on the site while at the same time increasing the site’s occupiable green spaces was a critical development in this project. The extended family shares a ground floor courtyard where the cooking and living spaces spill out onto the deck, blending inside and out. Each family member also has a large private and protected terrace above grade. Future scenarios imagine the family using the units in a variety of ways: The children may move into a rental unit as they gain independence or the parents may occupy the ground floor apartment and rent out the main house to another family while the children are away at school. Discreet millwork components can be removed to connect the units and allow ageing grandparents to live on the ground floor in an accessible apartment that is connected to the shared family spaces. The massing of the house resists the overt spatial diagram of this multi-generational scenario and intentionally conflates the units into a single gesture that holds the urban corner. Rising towards Grange Street, the stepped section reaches the maximum height of 12m permitted by city zoning ordinances, and culminates in a double-height space topped by an operable skylight that promotes natural ventilation from the large courtyard windows via the linear, double-run stair. A section through the stair exposes the unexpected window to volume relationship that occurs as a product of the democratic façade that gives each unit the same amount of glass. An increased level of insulation at the brick facade acts as a heavy winter coat and keeps the north side of the house well protected. The brick facade is composed of batches of ‘left-over’ bricks that would have otherwise been waste construction material. White paint unifies the varied brick into a single form and ties the house into the neighbourhood where painted brick is the norm. The heating system was designed to provide individual unit control and allows the different sections of the house to be dialed down when not in use to reduce energy consumption. The low 18.4% of glazing ensures that when heating or cooling is required, that energy stays within the envelope and is not lost to expanses of glass. The Grange Triple Double creates a unique form for owner-driven multi-unit housing development in Toronto that would not have been possible without the profound engagement of the client and the opportunities discovered in the city’s by-laws. It is a proof -of-concept that increased density can feel expansive and not preclude large, vibrant outdoor spaces. It confirms that modern details can be contextualized though materials and finishes to create housing that embraces new ways of living in old neighbourhoods. As the family changes so can the family home. Project initiated under Williamson Chong Architects.