Canadian Interiors January / February 2016

CANADIAN INTERIORS

CDN $6.95 JANUARY FEBRUARY 2016

January February 2016 www.canadianinteriors.com

s e n i L t hLooking g i S in, through and out of 3 living spaces

Tapping into bathrooms

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Commander Table

design: busk + hertzog

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Emissary Chair

design: Aaron Duke

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Now Open

Our brand new Trade Showroom is now open for business. We offer both hand woven and exciting new custom carpets to fit every project. Our skilled team welcomes you to come join us to see what we can do for you today.

1330 CASTLEFIELD AVE

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TORONTO

416 929 9290

INFO@WSTUDIO.CA

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Š2016 California Closet Company, Inc. All rights reserved. Each franchise independently owned and operated.

for the love of home

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californiaclosets.com

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866.221.0415

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Š2016 California Closet Company, Inc. All rights reserved. Each franchise independently owned and operated.

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01/022016 Features

28 WET DREAMS Bobby Darin will wish he was “splish splash taking a bath” with these new products. By Peter Sobchak

34 LOOKING EAST A renovation and addition to an existing residence employed a philosophy dedicated to harmony with nature, in both architectural expression and energy efficiency. By Martha Uniacke Breen

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CLARITY IN MYSTERY MU Architecture manipulates contemporary classicalism to create a family-friendly home. By Rhys Phillips

44 SITTIN’ ON THE DOCK A century-old boathouse is repurposed to house more people than boats. By David Lasker

Regulars

13 CAUGHT OUR EYE 16 SEEN Highlights and insights from IIDEXCanada in Toronto, and Cersaie in Bologna, Italy; and NeoCon East in Philadelphia. 48 SCENE 54 OVER & OUT Bortolotto plays with themes of light, perception, and the rounding of the eye for an optometry in Toronto.

COVER – Parts of Echo House, by Paul Raff Studio, employ a cladding inspired by classical Korean antiques.

Photo by Ben Rahn/A-Frame

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Upholstery Entertainment

Dining Office

Bedroom Accessories

Design Community Program As a design professional, enjoy designer discounts or take part in our exclusive commission based structure.

Specializing in Canadian custom-made upholstery, we welcome the opportunity to begin creating thoughtful spaces that fit the way your clients live.

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Calgary Griffintown

MontrĂŠal Ottawa

QuĂŠbec Toronto

Vancouver Winnipeg

Emeryville usa San Fransisco usa

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com

Exclusive to our DIGITAL EDITION

B-Bam! A tree house, a converted warehouse, a fragmented hotel lobby, a reformed cinema and others were announced as the best interiors of 2015 at INSIDE: World Festival of Interiors.

A Good Sit After 10 years in development, Montreal-based Kastella has finally launched the C401 stool, with clean lines and a Danish sensibility that makes it appear as a single piece of wood.

One-Stop Shop First launched at IIDEXCanada as printonly, the Design Source Guide (which also includes the THINK:Material showcase of materials) is now available on our website and is an invaluable resource of products and professional services.

Paulette-Marie Sauve Paulette-Marie Sauve, is a painter, photographer and tapestry weaver from Quebec who exhibits and gives workshops in many countries.

“The technique that I developed in 1989 was to photograph architecture and landscapes which I then transferred selected parts of the images onto silk-screens and created layers of images on raw cotton canvas. Today, I do this process using digital software, and make archival ink prints on a variety of substrates. I continue to paint abstract landscapes and cityscapes in mixed media on canvas, weave tapestry, and make fine art photography prints. “ Paulette’s has many corporate clients and Government commissions. Her work can be seen at: paulettesauve.com/artgallerystore

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NeoCon East 2015

Moving north after 12 years in Baltimore, NeoCon East made a strong debut in Philadelphia at the Pennsylvania Convention Center during the last two days of October. Despite sporadic rain, attendance was up and the aisles were full of professionals ready to spec products from over 250 companies.

Visit the expanded digital edition of to see our roundup!

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January| February 2016 / V53 #1

Publisher

Martin Spreer 416-510-6766 Editor

Peter Sobchak Art Director

Roy Gaiot

Associate Editors

David Lasker, Rhys Phillips, Leslie C. Smith Contributor

Sarah Fletcher Senior Circulation Manager

Diane Rakoff

416-510-5216 Reader Services

Silva Telian 416-442-5600 x3636 Production

Steve Hofmann 416-510-5194

Senior Publisher

Tom Arkell

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President of iQ Business Media Inc.

Alex Papanou Head Office

80 Valleybrook Drive, Toronto, ON M3B 2S9 Telephone 416-442-5600 • Facsimile 416-510-5140 Canadian Interiors magazine is published by iQ Business Media Inc. Tel: 416-442-5600, Fax: 416-510-6875 e-mail: info@canadianinteriors.com website: www.canadianinteriors.com Canadian Interiors publishes six issues, plus a source guide, per year. Printed in Canada. The content of this publication is the property of Canadian Interiors and cannot be reproduced without permission from the publisher.

Subscription rates > Canada $38.95 per year; plastic wrapped $41.95 per year (plus taxes) U.S.A. $71.95 US per year, Overseas $98.95 US per year.

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Back issues > Back copies are available for $10 for delivery in Canada, $15 US for delivery in U.S.A. and $20 overseas. Please send payment to: Canadian Interiors, 80 Valley brook Drive, Toronto, ON M3B 2S9 or order online www.canadianinteriors.com For subscription and back issues inquiries please call 416-442-5600 ext.3636, e-mail: circulation@canadianinteriors.com, or go to our website at: www.canadianinteriors.com Canadian Interiors is indexed in the Canadian Magazine Index by Micromedia ProQuest Company, Toronto (www.micromedia.com) and National Archive Publishing Company, Ann Arbor, Michigan (www.napubco.com).

Member of Canadian Business Press • Member of the Alliance for Audited Media

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wall panels align to create seamless, sculptural wall surfaces of any size.

Add drama and intrigue to any space, with durable, lightweight, natural gypsum.

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inside

Turn and face the strange

What a year it’s been for this magazine! Like Dorothy’s farmhouse swirling through the tornado, waiting to finally touch down on terra firma, the last 14 months has seen us go through two complete ownership changes and an ensuing ripple effect of personnel changes that is typical of such seismic shifts. Now that those waves have died down, a couple new introductions are in order: Alex Papanou, owner of our parent company IQ Business Media, and of course me, as the new editor. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -------------------------------------------------I have been with Canadian Interiors in some form or another — as contributor, deputy editor, and others — for the past 13 years, and owe a lot to two previous shepherds whom I worked with and learned from: Sheri Craig, and of course Michael Totzke, who courageously led this magazine through many challenging times. - - - - - - - - - - - - -------------------------------------------------One of my first tasks after being handed the reins was to preside over a pair of live events connected to our 18th annual Best of Canada

Awards, which both occurred on Dec. 3rd. In my mind that day reflected a positive and encouraging change, which is an investment in bringing a public celebration component back to this significant recognition of Canadian design. The first part was a live ceremony in front of a packed house during IIDEXCanada, where the awards were handed out to the 19 winners. The second was an inspiring dinner reception held later that night at Integral House, the award-winning Toronto residence of the late mathematician James Stewart, designed by Shim-Sutcliffe Architects. Our sincere thanks go to Stefan Sybydlo and his team at bulthaup Toronto for generously sponsoring the dinner fête; as well as Blackwell Structural Engineers, sponsors of the IIDEX reception; and Riko Gunawan, Don Smith and Bill Ralph, the executors of Mr. Stewart’s estate, for graciously permitted us to use Integral House. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -------------------------------------------------Changes were everywhere in 2015, and yet while the dust may have settled, we’re not done changing. In fact that word, as sung by the immortal David Bowie, has been ringing in my ears a lot lately. “Oh, look out you rock ‘n rollers,” he intones and I echo, because this year will see a new course charted for Canadian Interiors, and we’re excited to be bringing you along for the ride. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - --------------------------- ----------------------•

11 Peter Sobchak

psobchak@canadianinteriors.com

TURNING PLANS INTO REALITY.

Preconstruction Consulting Construction Management General Contracting Lease Budgeting Green Building & LEED® Consulting

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255 Duncan Mill Road Suite 707 Toronto, Ontario M3B 3H9

www.dpiconstruction.com

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For lunchrooms 6402 thermo walnut

that want a color that isn’t ketchup; 9499 white malachite

hotel rooms 6474 storm hex

that want to feel more home than room; 1520 infinity

and showrooms 6362 concrete formwood

where every day shouldn’t feel so everyday.

8167 navy splatter

Introducing SurfaceSet™ 2016 by Formica Corporation. Our most versatile collection yet features three unique palettes inspired by nature. Designed to make every room beautiful, durable and enjoyable.

Download the Formica® SurfaceSet™ 2016 lookbook at www.formica.com/lookbook_EN Formica® and the Formica® Anvil Logo are registered trademarks of The Diller Corporation. All rights reserved. © 2015 The Diller Corporation. A member of the Fletcher Building Group.

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caught our eye Bright Lights This past fall, the grassroots L A M P (Lighting Architecture Movement Project) international lighting design competition showcased the winners and nominees in Vancouver, chosen from 90 submissions worldwide.

Now in its third year, the competition aims to introduce a broader audience to lighting design while promoting and connecting emerging talent to new markets.

Toronto-based Alex Josephson won in the Established category with Gweilo (shown). www.welovelamp.ca

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caught our eye Where did I…? Wistiki, a Paris-based creator of connected devices, has joined forces with Philippe Starck on the new Found You! collection that will help you find belongings from your smartphone. These four products abandon the one-size-fits-all approach of traditional trackers with voilà! for keys, hopla! for your wallet, ta-da! for a child’s blankie and aha! for a pet’s collar. www.wistiki.com

High Fidelity French audio equipment maestro La Boite Concept has brought its Cube side table series (shown) and LD130 secrétaire desk series to Canada.

Designed with smart devices in mind, the series wirelessly connects to laptop, smartphone or tablet. www.laboiteconcept.com

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Cool Runnings Belgian brewing giant Stella Artois, in partnership with industrial designer Marc Thorpe, introduced the NOVA, an all-in-one, refrigerating countertop draught unit developed for more intimate bars, lounges and restaurants that wish to serve draught beer but do not have the space or capability to install full-scale draught systems. www.stellaartois.com

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For lunchrooms 6402 thermo walnut

that want a color that isn’t ketchup; 9499 white malachite

hotel rooms 6474 storm hex

that want to feel more home than room; 1520 infinity

and showrooms 6362 concrete formwood

where every day shouldn’t feel so everyday.

8167 navy splatter

Introducing SurfaceSet™ 2016 by Formica Corporation. Our most versatile collection yet features three unique palettes inspired by nature. Designed to make every room beautiful, durable and enjoyable.

Download the Formica® SurfaceSet™ 2016 lookbook at www.formica.com/lookbook_EN Formica® and the Formica® Anvil Logo are registered trademarks of The Diller Corporation. All rights reserved. © 2015 The Diller Corporation. A member of the Fletcher Building Group.

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A Closer Look

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8 Clearly Different Anyone who thinks vinyl floors are dull, not to say old school, hasn’t seen the latest offerings from Toronto’s LSI Floors. Weathered concrete, hammered aluminum, even cow skin for heaven’s sake, can be digitally printed on tiles in a five-layer process that also provides sound absorption and stain-proofing, as well as a microscopic glass-beaded surface for a non-slip tread. But what really caught our attention was the booth’s 38-foot aerial photographic map of Albuquerque, New Mexico 1. Brand new and at present the only application of its kind in North America, this map’s sister is embedded in the floor of the Albuquerque Museum. Visitors can literally walk over the face of the city, using their camera-equipped smart devices to discover GPS “hot spots” that instantly bring up audio/video information about prominent city features. Potential uses for this unique wayfinding system run the gamut – from hospitals, shopping malls and other museums, to condo sales offices that could give prospective buyers a virtual tour of their new neighbourhoods. www.lsifloors.com Outside-In Abstracts Interface presented three new indoor carpet tile designs based on abstractions of exterior natural and manmade phenomena. “Narratives” employs raised, foliage-like forms; “Near & Far” pairs softly shaded close-ups with vistas that could be read as an artistic rendering of a landscape; and, our particular favourite, “Equal Measure,” 2 reads as a cobblestone street, a coolly ironic Old World touch for today’s modern workspaces. www.interface.com Private Places Speaking of modern workspaces, Quadrangle’s GoAway! Best of Workplace display offered visitors an island of calm in the midst of IIDEX’s busy exposition floor. Curtained off from the crowd, the 2,000-sq.ft. area provided a showcase for office furnishings by Steelcase, Keilhauer, Teknion, Haworth and more, featured on a rotating basis. Standout pieces on our visit included a Wheels stool 3 by Keilhauer – part of a mobile office grouping designed with spontaneous meetings in mind – and the modular cluster of elegant, curved-back privacy chairs of various heights from Teknion Studio’s Fractal Collection 4. Then there was the plug-in phone booth from Finland’s Framery. That’s right – a phone booth 5. In today’s open-concept offices, where privacy is at a premium, it seems we are obliged to fall back on the now-ancient concept of a small, glass-enclosed box where one person can communicate with another without the whole world listening in. Plus ça change…. www.frameryacoustics.com A Handmade’s Tale You have to hand it to Spain. That country has long possessed a unique sense of style and colour, thanks to its Southern European/ Moroccan heritage. IIDEX’s Interiors From Spain display, curated by the renowned Belén Moneo of Moneo Brock Studio, showcased this with a series of products, including furnishings from Barcelona Design and Expormim, pendant lighting

by Bover, and a conveniently situated (and well-stocked) wine fridge from Fagor.

“We’re not afraid of challenging designs and colour,” Moneo admits, pointing to a set of open-weave, stainless steel stool/tables in bold primary hues, crafted

by Valencia’s Gandia Blasco. The same firm’s Silai Collection 6 provided the booth’s decorative woollen cover in “old grandma’s cross-stitch” for a black PVC cube – an ottoman cozy, if you will – that speaks to the charmingly atavistic international trend towards handmade objets. www.gandiablasco.com Black-In A small trend to note is the way today’s bright white lights are now diffused by black shades, whether this is through a lamp fabric or, as with the case of Montreal’s Eureka Lighting, spun-aluminum pendants powder-coated in matte anthracite. The company’s Aperture light 7, sized 12”, 24” or 36”, presents a custom, dimmable LED light engine hidden within the pendant’s hollow core. Glance up, and all your eyes will see is a soft, retina-friendly glow.

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Highlights and insights from Toronto’s annual architecture and design expo

By Leslie C. Smith

This year’s rendition of IIDEXCanada, presented as a centrepiece to the umbrella Buildings Show, took place during the first week of December at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre and offered a plethora of seminars, special keynote addresses and, of course, exhibitors, all loosely grouped around the theme of “the new normal.”

That phrase covered everything from recent regulatory changes to rising design trends to the central GoAway! workplace exhibit, curated

by Quadrangle Architects, which focused on the idea of office accessibility being everywhere (the exhibit itself changed vignettes four times over the course of the show). We came, we saw, and we noted some of the best that was on display. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -------------------------------------------------•

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Ash You Like It We always leave the perennial favourite Woodshop to the last on our tour of IIDEX – simply because it does our heart good to commune with nature, and to see the good that designers are creating out of trees felled before their time by the insidious ash borer beetle. Prototype ashwood products here included the ingenious “Sewing Lamp” 8 by Japan’s Kunikazu Hamanishi, made from pieces of composite veneer-and-acrylic material sewn together into pendant lamp shade, and the sculptural urban Bike Hook by Toronto- and New York-based Facet-It. Special mention also goes out to the low-profile Leather Bench 9, a beautifully fitted together combo of shaped cowhide and ash, built

by Toronto’s Jake Whillans. www.hamanishi.net www.willowandstump.ca www.jakewhillans.com 1/2 2016 CANADIAN INTERIORS

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evolution

Puncture Resistant - Denim Dye Resistant - Ink+ Stain Resistant

The Next Generation of Authentec 速

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Perfect 10

By Michael Totzke

At Cersaie 2015, the International Exhibition of Ceramic Tile and Bathroom Furnishings, the best introductions did something a little differently.

A Certain Naiveté Patrick Norguet continues his collaboration with Lea Ceramiche with Naive, an ultra-thin porcelain collection available in extra-large sizes. Says the head of Studio Norguet Design, “The patterns, reminiscent of carefully drawn pencil lines, create an interweaving effect, a network of random signs emanating an emotional candour.” www.ceramichelea.com

Fine Geometry Guilio Iachhetti designed the Labyrinth collection of porcelain stonewear for Design TaleStudio, owned by Ceramiche Refin. With this geometric construction generated within a square, lines join mid-point to the opposite vertices until they form two opposing L-shaped elements. It’s available in Mirror (shown) and Angle configurations. www.designtalestudio.com

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The Fine Print Cool young company 41zero42 showed Signs, a collection of full-body extruded porcelain with a finish of six patterns — delicate and exquisitely evocative — randomly mixed.

In four colours: Black, White, Grey and Mud. www.41zero42.com

Off The Wall 3D Wall Design by Atlas Concorde offers nine different three-dimensional surfaces (shown: Blade) for decorative walls, characterized by a velvety and bright glaze that enhances the motifs. www.atlasconcorde.it

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Graphic Art Ornamenta’s Paper collection — for both floors and walls — not only mimics graph paper but can be written on (and easily erased) with chalk. www.ornamenta.com

Architecturally Speaking A partnership between Giugiaro Architettura and Ceramiche Del Conca, GA by Giugiaro Architettura draws its main inspiration from the texture of carbon fibre and the geometry of the air intakes of Parcour, the flagship of Italdesign-Giugiaro’s concept car fleet. www.delconca.com

All in the Details With Details, from Tagina Ceramiche d’Arte, the ceramic tile takes on a new kind of tridimensionality. Available in nine colours in three sizes, also in the hexagonal shape, for both floors (in glazed porcelain) and walls (in double-fired white body). www.tagina.it

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Everything into the Mix Imola Ceramica’s Mash-up collection starts with a single format (30x60 cm) and two neutral colours (white and almond). From there, add wave effects, diamonds and geometrical shapes; floral patterns, lines and stripes; patterned sections, intense colours, drawings and more. www.imolaceramica.com

N Not Just Another Brick Emile Ceramica Group’s Brick Design can be completely customized in colour and quantity. Flaws left from the forging process are visible, generating light and shade effects that give a sense of movement and variety. www.emilceramicagroup.com

Small Packages Just a tease at Cersaie, Micro-Brik designed

by Nendo for Brix will be available in early 2016.

Putting micro-mosaics at the centre of its design, the tile comes in seven different patterns based on the idea of reducing the dimension of the classic brick usually used in building. www.brixweb.com

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THE VINTAGE INSPIRED ARTIFACTS ® FAUCET COLLECTION. FIND THE STYLE AND FINISH THAT TRULY REFLECT YOU.

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Allsteel has expanded its Altitude electric height-adjustable table portfolio. The series offers a table with new shapes and legs, which can adapt to corner offices. It is also movable on casters and comes with a battery-operated remote control. www.allsteel.com

Finds in Philly

By Peter Sobchak

Moving north after 12 years in Baltimore, NeoCon East made a strong debut in Philadelphia at the Pennsylvania Convention Center during the last two days of October. Despite sporadic rain, attendance was up and the aisles were full of professionals ready to spec products from over 250 companies.

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Kimball Office The Pairings product line of seating, tables, and surfaces delivers furniture elements that support conversation and collaborative work across a variety of work applications. www.kimballoffice.com

Herman Miller The Mirra 2 stool brings support to any setting where seated and standing collaborators benefit from being at a common eye level. www.hermanmiller.com

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Borgo Contract Seating Tazza is a contemporary, polypropylene molded plastic chair that is 100 per cent recyclable. Its shell is ergonomically designed and gently hugs the sitter’s body. www.borgo.com

C.H. Briggs ALYN is a proprietary wall cladding product line, which includes solid surface and resin options. This material would be ideal for all vertical commercial markets, as well as applications in commercial lobby space, corporate offices, hospitals, theaters, and others. www.chbriggs.com

Humanscale OfficeIQ combats sedentary work behaviors through intuitive technology and design. The unobtrusive, portable product can be retrofitted to any height-adjustable surface and task chair, whether in a personal workstation, conference room or shared-desking area. OfficeIQ’s intelligent technology motivates users to make activity part of their daily work life by logging real-time health and wellness data – such as total calories burned. www.humanscape.com

Carvart The C1 Collection of 12 etched architectural glass patterns are named after trendy Brooklyn neighbourhoods where Carvart started its manufacturing of glass 20 years ago. www.carvart.com

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M/W International, Inc. A first-time exhibitor at NeoCon East, M/W International’s Savvy is a new line of architectural elements designed to enhance the architectural hardware offering of M/WI’s complete line of demountable wall products. Design sensitive, Savvy is adept for any vertical market where sophistication intersects with practicality and versatility. www.mwintl.net ICF Group/Unika Vaev Raw is a new silkscreen printed sound absorbing panel/screen. Its design is the result of the manipulation of the photographic imagery of brick and stone. The juxtaposition of hard surfaces imagery upon a soft textile surface provides an industrial aesthetic with a unique acoustic solution. Raw is available in seven hand silkscreened colour-ways on selected marl and solid “ecoustic” felt. www.icfgroup.com

Digilock Digilock’s new Numeris is a simplified security solution designed for file cabinets, storage and casegoods. www.digilock.com

Hon Voi’s layered work surfaces, practical storage components, versatile materials, and compact footprints can be personalized to achieve the right mix of functionality and style. www.hon.com

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the goods

Tick Tock The Time bathroom faucet

by Aquabrass cleverly evokes a clock dial, as the thin lever blends both shapes of the faucet. With a rotative upward movement, 4 o’clock will release a sheet of cold water, 8 o’clock for hot water, and 6 o’clock will shut off the aerated flow. www.aquabrass.com

Wetdreams

By Peter Sobchak

Bobby Darin will wish he was “splish splash taking a bath” with these new products.

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It’s not tile.

It’s U tile.

More than 15 patterns available

Innovative shower wall panels with realistic stone- and tile-like textures

Come see us!

IDS 2016 | Booth #2010

utilebymaax.com

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the goods Maker’s Mark Part of the Kohler Artist Editions and made using small batch production techniques, the new Derring Collection uses a glaze with textural carvings that create complex colour transitions, capturing and playing off of the lighting and movement in the room. www.kohler.ca

New Wave American Standard has upped the design ante with DXV, the first commerciallyavailable residential faucets created by additive manufacturing, aka 3D printing. Using a process called selective laser sintering, these are the first ready-for-market working residential faucets to be printed in metal. www.ameri-

Cascade of Whims The new Hansgrohe ShowerSelect trims for iBox combine geometric design and push-button control into one sleek package. Like everything in the 21st century, the shower experience can change with the touch of a button, switching functions on and off and transforming spray modes. www.hansgrohe.ca

canstandard-us.com

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Crazy Eights Villeroy & Boch’s new freestanding Octagon washbasin, designed by Kai Steffan, made its North American debut during November’s BDNY fair in New York.

Made using TitanCeram, a proprietary blend of clay, quartz, feldspar and titanium oxide, which allows for extremely thin walls and clearly defined edges. www.villeroyboch.com

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the goods Round We Go Lamé is a new collection of bathroom fixtures designed by Matteo Thun and Antonio Rodriguez for Fantini USA Inc. The square section with rounded edges draws inspiration from the so-called super-ellipses that were born from the research of 18th century French mathematician Gabriel Lamé. www.fantiniusa.com

Going Pro To help improve the occupant experience even into washrooms, SCA has released the new Tork Image Design line of towels, bath tissues and soap dispensers (shown), made of brushed stainless steel exteriors featuring anti-fingerprint protection. www.tork.ca

Grab Hold Pipe is an accessories series spin-off of the Marcel Wanders-designed red taps for Boffi, but is now also multipurpose hooks intended for hand towels or bathrobes. www.boffi.com

Gone Fishin’ Fisher Island, a private island off the coast of Miami Beach known for its lush, serene ambiance, is the inspiration behind Boffi’s newest bathtub designed by Piero Lissoni and CRS Boffi, which debuted at Milan Design Week. www.boffi.com

Size Matters The new W2 line by Montreal-based Wetstyle targets small bathroom spaces and includes three freestanding soaking tubs and a new all-wood furniture collection with a slim profile integrated washbasin. www.wetstyle.ca

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METRIS KITCHEN. RECIPE FOR SUCCESS. Modern Style and Superior Ergonomics. With distinctive, angular design featuring a unique, intuitive pull-out spray on the main and prep models, Metris will fuel your passions in the kitchen. Available in chrome and steel optik. Discover our entire assortment at www.hansgrohe.ca.

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L o o k in g

a s t

A renovation and addition to an existing residence employed a philosophy dedicated to harmony with nature, in both architectural expression and energy efficiency.

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By Martha Uniacke Breen Photography by Ben Rahn/A-Frame and Steve Tsai

A long, wide wall of windows spans the full 42-foot width of the back of the house, and functions almost like a hallway, with most of the rooms in this part of the house facing onto it. The living-in-nature feeling is supported by a wide-open layout and low-key details such as walnut floors, matte white walls, and a minimum of furnishings.

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You can’t help but hear the faint trace of an Asian accent in Paul Raff’s serene update to Echo House, a mid-century modern home in Toronto’s Bridle Path. With its spare, clean lines, quietly attractive materials such as limestone and slatted wood, and its wide windows over the landscape, it has a meditative, settled quality that feels distinctly Eastern.

-------------------------------------------------Much of Raff’s work reveals a sensibility that orients itself figuratively towards the East, particularly in ideas about the relationship between architecture and the natural world. And in the case of this house, which fronts onto an expansive ravine garden, opening the interior up visually to nature was the guiding aesthetic of the design.

-------------------------------------------------A graduate of the University of Waterloo, Raff has travelled extensively throughout his life, particularly in the East, and interned and worked in Hong Kong as well as New York City and Barcelona before launching his practice about a decade ago. He has also become a champion for sustainable architecture, and lectures regularly on the subject at several universities. “Larger buildings are like larger animals, in that they have smaller volume ratios, so they are inherently energy-efficient,” he says. “But that’s not necessarily what is happening today. Nearly 40 per cent of energy use is devoted to buildings and architecture, larger than the entire transportation sector. It’s fair to say that the attention being paid to sustainability issues continues to increase dramatically, but it’s not enough.” - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -------------------------------------------------In fact, Raff’s focus on energy efficiency in his work was one of the factors that attracted the owners of Echo House to him. Originally built in the 1950s, the house had started as a comparatively modest ranch bungalow that had been added to several times over the years, most recently in the 1980s. Over time it had become a hodge-podge of rooms and walls and corridors, and the whole thing was incredibly energy-intensive to operate. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -------------------------------------------------“It was stark and white, with a series of what can only be called ‘stupid’ features,” he laughs. “In the front, there were a pair of boldly curved accent walls of glass block, and at the top of the house, there were slanted clerestory windows that let in direct light in midsummer (adding to the heat in the interior), and obscured the light in winter.

And there was no view through them, of course.” - - - - - - - - - - - - - -------------------------------------------------But the home’s greatest asset was nearly hidden beyond its leaky rear windows. “The landscape it sits on is beautiful! An amazing collection of mature trees, lawn and sky. Yet the house separated people almost completely from this beautiful setting, in every way: 1/2 2016 CANADIAN INTERIORS

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in terms of light, the view, the way sunlight fell inside the house… even the access to the garden was not fluid.” - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -------------------------------------------------Raff and his team kept the best features of the existing house: its wide, low profile and the idea of windows along the back. But in every respect, the entire envelope was essentially rebuilt, with much broader window walls that slide open a full 42 feet, the entire width of the house. Insulation and mechanicals were completely upgraded, ultimately cutting the home’s energy footprint by over 50 per cent.

But the most interesting transformation was to relate the interior to the view, making a sense of the landscape a feature almost anywhere in the house you happen to settle. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ------------------------------------------At the front, the strange and rather unwelcoming glass block curves were replaced by a series of woven pivoting wood screens that, through a clever trick of the slats, afford privacy from without and a screened view from within. The repeating pattern of the screens enhances the low-slung, calm feeling, like a visual chant. - - - - - - - - - - -------------------------------------------------From there, the house opens out to a wide main space, dominated at the rear and through upper mezzanine windows by a vista of woods and sky. What few architectural embellishments there are in this room are

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Opposite top: A ‘long view building’ design discipline is reinforced by subtle thresholds of layered spaces. Opposite: Upon entering the house, a vast, expansive interior opens up to an 18-ft. high central living room that affords sweeping views of the gardens. Above: The view from the kitchen along the front promenade of the home.

Windows on this side are translucent, adding privacy but also helping to orient the house visually toward the expanse of landscape seen at the back of the house. Left: A child’s bathroom has one of the few expressions of colour in the house, a whimsical, shimmery mosaic of blue and green in the shower.

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exquisitely simple: a rectangular opening for fireplace and log storage in a white wall; polished walnut floors; simple black steel window frames.

-------------------------------------------------Peripheral spaces in the home are a bit more elaborate, but only by comparison, and illustrate the Asian theme a little more literally. Some spaces are loosely separated not by doors, but by delicately scrolled wrought-iron screens (allowing sunlight and views to flow through them). And a wing that houses a photography studio and art space is clad in wood blocks fastened with black-finished metal hardware. “It emulates antique Korean furniture, which features very refined joinery similar to this. I think of it like very fine stitchery on a couture dress, and it adds a traditional reference in this very spare, modern design.”

-------------------------------------------------From its quiet, horizontally-oriented front façade, to the delicate tracery of the interior screens, to the constant presence of the landscape beyond the enclosure of the home, there’s a contemplative quality to Echo House that’s very affecting. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -------------------------------------------------“You feel like it serves all the senses: not just vision but, if you open the back, the sound of birds, the scent of the woods, the feel of breezes,” says Raff. “There’s a real feeling of serenity here that’s greatly uplifting.”

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Opposite top: A long, narrow horizontal window in the pool area, at one end of the house, turns a view of trees into a framed artwork. Opposite: An intricately patterned wrought iron room divider, inspired by Asian screens, pivots on a central axis, defining a transition between spaces without obscuring them. Top: Simple materials such as raked stucco, reclaimed Douglas fir, and Algonquin limestone give the front elevation a quiet, settled look. Upper left: One of a series of unique slatted pivoting screens at the front of the house, which provide both privacy from without and light and views from within. Upper right: A view of the studio wing with its unusual cladding of woodblocks, fastened with black iron hardware. Left: A closer look at the studio’s cladding, which Raff says was inspired by classical Korean antiques.

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Cla in Myst er y

MU Architecture manipulates contemporary classicalism to create a family friendly home

By Rhys Phillips Photography by Julien Perron-Gagné

Above The stair landing is level with the kitchen counters, and its partly glazed opening allows people to kneel, put their arms on the glass panel edge and have a conversation with the chef. Opposite above The kitchen is a creative mix of custom work and IKEA modules. Like the entrance vestibule and the stairs, the kitchen alignment stretches across the house, running counter to the house’s circulation as well as the living and dining rooms. Opposite below The fireplace anchors the house, helps establish the plan’s symmetry and introduces a reference to local industrial buildings.

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Montreal’s Rue Waverly, in the city’s northeast Alexandra-Marconi district, is a street in transition. With rail yards just to the west but dynamic Little Italy on the east, MU Architecture refers to the neighbourhood as “a mysterious district that has in recent years experienced a notorious gentrification.” And, they readily admit, their recently completed 3,000-sq.-ft. Waverly Residence is very much part of the “notorious” transition of this mixed light industrial, low scale office/warehouse and residential community. The three-bedroom house for two doctors and their young family respects the area’s simple architectural forms but inside provides an elegant, almost classically inspired plan that is remarkably family friendly. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -------------------------------------------------To the street, it presents a simple, two-storey volume consistent with neighbouring buildings but clad in an oxide-infused brick that shimmers subtly when washed with Montreal’s ozone-saturated light.

Deeply extruded steel window frames, an ultra-thin metal canopy over the centred and clear-glazed front door as well as the grey painted steel panels wrapped around the north laneway corner add animation in a language consistent with the area’s manufacturing history. - - - - - - - - -------------------------------------------------Both MU partners, Charles Côté and Jean-Sébastien Herr, assert that “clarity and fluidity are two main characteristics throughout all our projects…with clear axis and limited circulation spaces.” But once through the front door a certain “uncomfortable” mystery is introduced. Immediately ahead, a grey volume stretches almost across the width of the 1/2 2016 CANADIAN INTERIORS

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generously deep entrance vestibule. Composed of minimalist detailed floor-to-ceiling door panels, this imposing wall is flanked by double corridors retreating to the home’s communal spaces – do I go right or left?

-------------------------------------------------Indecision aside, the doors in this comfortably large, ceramic-tiled entrance provide access to deep closets and a sizable mud room for strollers, skis or even a bicycle. A young family’s invariably messy functional requirements are met while encouraging minimal visual clutter. But the carefully centred entrance and dual side corridors also signal a specific concept applied throughout the house. “We explore in each project a new or rethought concept and in Waverly this is symmetry,” says Herr. Thus the vestibule becomes the mise-enscène for the house’s contemporary but classically balanced plan. - - -------------------------------------------------Down the right corridor and immediately behind the grey volume, a steel staircase with open risers and red oak steps ascends across the house’s width. A landing overlooks the kitchen and its island through a large opening partially infilled with seamless glass. Like the vestibule and stairs, the kitchen slices across the house. The landing serves as a place

for guests - or kids - to kneel and converse with the chef. It also ensures the long skylight above the stair floods the interior with natural light. -------------------------------------------------Beyond the kitchen island stretch two equally sized living and dining areas bisected by a totemic, two-way fireplace and opening onto a modest garden. Defying convention, the yard, reached through large patio doors bracketed by wide, floor-to-ceiling glazing, is kept almost level with the first-level floor to support a classical inside/outside unity. “All these elements, including large windows on the second floor,” says Côté, respond “to a need to link with the exterior to accentuate the sense of place.” - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -------------------------------------------------Reflecting the architects’ objectives of “clarity, simplicity and elegance,” details are kept crisp and minimal. But they also believe strongly in “adaptability” or the attribute of reflecting a sense of place, in part by using local but not necessarily standard house materials. Thus the fireplace is wrapped in acid polished steel reflecting industrial neighbours. The kitchen ceiling is natural cedar planks while the flooring is a richly mottled chestnut. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -------------------------------------------------Upstairs, the storage/bathroom volume defining the first floor is repeated – again with two corridors on either side – but now shifted behind the stair to define the master bedroom. A second skylight brings light directly into the upper bathroom. Two additional bedrooms stretch across the front. The sizable landing embracing the stairwell will eventually accommodate an open office or library. - - - -------------------------------------------------Elegant but family friendly, clean and crisp but richly textured, the Waverly Residence deftly aligns discrete elements or “segments” with balance and symmetry to break down any corridor effect while maximizing openness. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -------------------------------------------------•

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Above The stair landing brings in natural light from the skylight, and activates interaction between users. Above left The generous storage, including a full room, removes the “embarrassment of clutter, ensuring clarity, simplicity, elegance. You can hide your mess.” Left The house has two full bathrooms, one on each floor (the upper level one boasts its own skylight). The decision was made to limit the number of bathrooms to allow for three generous-sized bedrooms.

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16-01-29 2:39 PM

i in’ Stt on the dock

A century-old boathouse is repurposed to house more people than boats.

By David Lasker Photography by Andrew Waller/Steven Comisso

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For about a century, a three-storey boathouse dominated Roche’s Point on the eastern shore of Ontario’s Lake Simcoe and was big enough to house a 60-ft. yacht. Its new owners, less inclined to Gatsby-esque gestures, gave Toronto-based Lynch & Comisso Architects the mandate to downsize the boat slip to fit a 30-ft. vessel and to repurpose the rest of the building for recreation and summer living at the water’s edge. - - -------------------------------------------------The renovation includes a bedroom, living room, fully functional kitchen and a fascinating bathroom. From its cove-lit ceiling (emulating the effect of clerestory windows), light splashes down walls covered with tiny black and white tiles arrayed to give a pixelated effect; the short exterior wall is punctuated by small, various-sized rectan-

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This spread The original boathouse was underutilized and almost completely blocked the view of Lake Simcoe from the subdivided lot on which it now sits. Lynch+Comisso’s main objective was to transform the boathouse into a functional space that accommodates a bedroom, bathroom, kitchen and living area at the water’s edge. Circulation is emphasized by the T-light wall, and the kitchen was designed as a freestanding island “object” rather than a millwork installation on the wall.

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gular windows laid out seemingly at random to offer glimpses of daylight while ensuring privacy. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -------------------------------------------------But the big wow gesture is upstairs. For the wide-open upper-floor main space, the metaphor of nesting Russian matryoshka dolls applies. The designers played up the industrial, hangar-like look of the tall existing shell with its steel webbing and busy window mullions by inserting a series of contrasting smaller pavilions that denote cozy domestic space. A canted white drywall bulkhead swoops up from atop the swirly wood-grained cabinetry built into the land-side wall, its angle opening above the dining and seating areas to the seascape view outside. Cutouts in the bulkhead for cables that suspend architecturally integrated, efficient LED and fluorescent lighting emphasize the bulkhead’s thickness. Under this ponderous sheltering mass, the prep/cooking area is a freestanding island with its own wraparound wall and ceiling sectors. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -------------------------------------------------The natural materials palette, including ipe, cedar shakes, stainless steel and zinc exterior cladding, was selected for its ability to withstand climatic extremes. This renovated boathouse should glow like a shore beacon for many a summer night. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -------------------------------------------------•

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Opposite top Different sized windows were laid out in a random but controlled manner across transverse building walls, and are visible from both inside and out. Opposite Using the original steel structure as a skeleton, the architects developed spaces to maximize views of the lake from different vantage points. Above A bridge was installed within the slip dividing the boats from an open pool of water visible when climbing the outdoor stairs. At night the house can glow like a welcoming beacon on the shore or withdraw into the shoreline with only the T-lights and decorative Edison lamp pendants illuminating the indoor and outdoor spaces.

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Best of Canada Awards Text and photos by David Lasker

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IIDEXCanada after-awards party

The Canadian Interiors Best of Canada Awards and the Canadian Architect Awards ceremonies took place on Dec. 3rd at the Keilhauer Keynote Theatre on the bustling IIDEXCanada show floor at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre North Building.

Immediately afterward, everyone partied. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - --------------------------------------------------------------

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1—IBI Group’s Katie Ferried, interior designer and Martha Belaen, architect; and interior designer Nancy Kuemper.

2—Woodworks Ontario’s Max Toressi, technical director, and Tim Buhler, marketing manager, flank Shannon Hilchie owner of the structural engineering firm Faetlab. 3—Nicky Bruun-Meyer, architectural designer; Mehreen Mujib, architect, Van Der King Design Group; Heather Smith, intern architect; and Nicole Tomasi, intern architect, CS&P Architects. 4—Interior designers Randa Reda and designer John Tong, founding principal, +tongtong; and architectural technologist Maya Moussallieh. 5—Brazilians Lucio Rossi De Oliveira, Lucio Rossi Architect; Rosane Aguiar, Fourth Federal Region Tribune; Daniela De Souza Caser, Daniela Caser Architecture and Interiors; Marcel Machado, MaPa Design; Amanda Abranches, Amanda Abranches Architecture; Flavio Pardini, Differenciata Architecture and Engineering; and Daniella Mazega Pereira Simonassi, Daniella Simonassi Architect. 6—Architect Bruno Morin, associate at Montreal’s Rubin & Rotman; architect Andrew Tarassoff, director, design and innovation, and Alex Popistas, designer at Kirkland, Quebec-based Broccolini; and Richard Rubin, architect and partner at Rubin and Rotman. 7—Architect Stephen Petri, senior principal, and Shawn Banerd, designer, Reich and Petch; and Laura Lehining, designer, Toronto Transit Commission. 8—Architect Martin Dolan, associate, Adamson Associates Architects; Vogel Architects partners Jacek Vogel and his wife, Barbara, associate professor at Ryerson University.

9—AquaDecor’s Bojan Lazic, Jessica Cuviello and Jeff Neveu at their IIDEX booth.

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Integral House

Integral House, the $40-million, one-bedroom bachelor pad designed by Shim-Sutcliffe Architects in Toronto’s tony Rosedale neighbourhood, was the gracious setting for the Canadian Interiors Best of Canada Awards and the Canadian Architect Awards after-ceremonies dinner. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ----------------------------------------------------------------------------

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1— Architect Vance Harris, principal, Dialog; Melissa Bauld, project designer, and Thomas Christoffersen, partner, both from New York-based BIG (Bjarke Ingels Group). 2—Philip Evans, principal ERA Architects; James Mallinson, intermediate architect, Perkins and Will; his wife and Canadian Architect editor Elsa Lam; her boss’s boss, Alex Papanou, president, IQ Business Media, publisher of professional magazines, including Canadian Interiors, and Jason Dressler of furniture-design duo Brothers Dressler. 3—Montreal-based Olivier Melhem, project engineer, BPA; Dominique Verault, technical services engineer, Montreal Biodome; Alain Deom, structural engineer, and Maxime Deom, technical engineer NCK. 4—Alex Bozikovic, architecture critic, The Globe and Mail; Sonja Storey-Fleming, intern architect, Paul Raff Studio; and artists and architects Christine Leu and Alan Webb, partners at art-installation firm LeuWebb Projects. 5—Ja Architecture Studio partners Behnaz Assadi, Hanieh Rezaei, Hooman Fazlollahi; architect James Macgillivray, principal of architecture firm LAMAS; and Ja partner Nima Javid.

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Umbra Shift launches

Umbra launched its Shift line of thoughtfully designed, cool everyday products with a party memorable for equally creative drinks such as cowboy coffee and coffee cocktails—to highlight Shift’s Cowboy coffee kettle—featuring essence of Laphroaig, the famously peaty single-malt Islay Scotch whisky, and syrup made from stout, the darkest of beers. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ------------------------------------------------------------

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1—Umbra designers Wesley Chau, Martin Luu, Davin Cowper and Mingus New; Matt Carr, VP design; and senior designer David Green. 2—Umbra’s Corrianna Sherwood, store manager; designers Adrienna Matzeg, Laura Carwardine, Eugenie de Loynes and Tracy Wong; and global marketing manager Megan Snider. 3—Joe Amio, production editor, CTV; Josh McGuirk, freelance writer, producer, director; and Patrick Augustynowicz, designer at interior design firm Allo Studios and Umbra design rep. 4—Accountant Christine Ho; Sara Nickleson, associate curator and director of collections, and Tara Akitt, exhibition co-ordinator, Design Exchange; and Eva Sampson, U of T M. Arch student.

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DX Kismet

Last November’s annual Design Exchange gala fundraising dinner and gala party, laboriously titled DX Intersection: KISMET, honoured hospitality and retail design stars Yabu Pushelberg, arguably Canada’s most famous interior design firm. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------1—Gathered round the TD Centre plaza’s brazier: Karen Petrachenko of her self-named interior design firm; Ken Metrick, president of Elte, and his wife and Elte buyer Rene; Lorne Gertner, founding partner & CEO, Hill & Gertner Capital Corporation; and Linda Lewis, DX founding president and retired chair, Ryerson University School of Fashion. 2—Event deejay John Caffery and his husband, web designer Ian Macpherson, vying for the evening’s highly coveted Best Costume prize. 3—Furniture and textile designer Ish Peroz of Peroz Design, and interior designer Krysia Gorgolewska, partner at SGH Design Partners. 4—Guests of honour George Yabu and Glenn Pushelberg, co-founders of Yabu Pushelberg. 5—Interior designers and Club Monaco founders Michelle Lloyd and Christine Ralphs of Lloyd Ralphs Design; and decorating contractor David Bermann. 6—Interior designer Beverly Hori, managing director, IA Interior Architects; and Katerina Zherinova, president of Dezign Market, importers of the lively, dramatic GODI line of bathroom furniture. 7—Klaus Nienkamper Jr., proprietor of the Klaus high-end furnishings store and showroom; 2013 DX gala honoree and fashion designer Byron Peart, co-founder, WANT Les Essentiels de la Vie; with life partner Stefan Weisgerber, retail director at apparel maker Mark Edwards Group; their triplex in Montreal’s Habitat was featured in Dwell.

Teknion showroom launch

Teknion launched its new Toronto showroom, designed by the San Francisco-based design consigliere Michael Vanderbyl, who also created Teknion staff members’ new minimalist business cards. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - --------------------------------------------------------------------

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1—From interior design firm Figure3: Katy Krause, senior team leader; Christopher Wright, creative principal; Susan Jefferson and Alexis Palenstein, senior team leaders, workplace; and Darryl Balaski, principal, workplace projects. 2—Suzanne Janke, director of hospitality and retail at Stratus Vineyards, the ultra-premium Niagara-on-the-Lake winery and boutique owned

by Teknion president and CEO David Feldberg (at far right); architect Dermot Sweeny, president, and Rozalia Rajewski, intern architect, Sweeny & Co. Architects; and David Feldberg. 3—Interior design firm Bennet Design’s Shelley Corallo, design manager, and Jennifer Torok, director of design, flank Valerie Beare, director, client services, Brookfield Global Integrated Solutions; and Teknion’s Michael Greer, corporate accounts, Canadian sales, and Catherine Coulter, account manager. 4—Interior designer Colleen Mullaly, designer, Freeman+Freeman Design; Mackenzie Spice, executive accounts at Teknion dealer Office Source; architect John Gillanders, principal, Sweeny&Co. Architects; and Office Source VP Celia Spaulding.

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Cabin launch

Condo developer Curated Properties threw a party to open the sales centre for Cabin, their Queen Street West midrise designed by RAW Architects with Canadiana-inspired interiors by Toronto’s own Mason Studio. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------1—Curated Properties principals Gary Eisen and Adam Ochshorn flank their client, architect Roland Rom Colthoff, principal at RAW, who fashioned the sales centre from seven shipping containers.

2—From Mason Studio, the sales centre’s interior designer: designers Marti Hawkins, Joel Hunking, Simone Ferkul, Kirsty Reid; and partners Stanley Sun and Ashley Rumsey. 3—Oleg Gleizerman, general manager at exercise equipment outfitter Foremost Fitness; Grant Algar, designer at condo interior design firm Algar Developments; Karolina Skuba, hairstylist at David Mitchell Studio Spa; Christian Otegui, actor at OVO Productions; and Justin Rahim, principal and owner, Black Label Urban Design.

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TSA Winter Bash

The visually striking atrium of the new, Sweeny&Co.-designed Queen Richmond Centre West in Toronto’s Entertainment District, with its gi-normous, spidery X-brace columns, made a fitting setting for the Toronto Society of Architects’ Winter Bash. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------1—Landscape architect Scott Torrance and Mark Cascella, intern architect, Sweeny&Co. Architects. 2—Architect Lisa Rapoport, partner, Plant Architect; Greg Papp, architectural technologist; Daniel Hall, president and design director, the Architect Builders Collaborative, and his wife, Kathleen Forsyth. 3—Ian Mountfort, structural engineer, Blackwell; architect Chris Pommer, partner, Plant Architect; and Chris Nicoletti, associate, structural engineer at Engineeringlink. 4—Architect Dmytriy Pereklita, president, and Karen Mak, VP, dkstudio; Samantha Scroggie, senior designer, and Nathan Dykstra, intern architect, Paul Raff Studio Architect; and Darcie Watson, associate, Philip Beesley Architect.

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Sweeny&Co.’s Christmas cheer

Among the cherished Toronto A&D-community Christmas traditions is the swell soiree that architect Dermot Sweeny throws for clients and friends at the One Eighty (formerly Panorama) Lounge atop the Manulife Centre. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------• 1—Sweeny&Co. staffers Banah Mustafa, intern architect; Tyler Wilkinson, architect; Bahram Pezeshki, architect; Claribel Sia, comptroller; Hai Ho, designer; Paul Caravaggio, associate; and Dermot Sweeny, president. 2—Hai Ho, designer; B.J. Smith, intern architect; Fei-Ling Tseng, director of marketing; Alexei Guerra, planning and urban design; and Paul Luttor, marketing co-ordinator at Sweeny&Co. 3—Eastern Construction’s Renato Tacconelli, VP, operations, and senior project manager Tyler Cooke, flank Noah Slater, Sweeny&Co. architect and associate.

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Eight Rings and a Mirror

By Sarah Fletcher

Bortolotto plays with themes of light, perception, and the rounding of the eye for an optometry in north Toronto

The 2,260-sq.ft. showroom at Toronto’s Finch Avenue Optometry is pristine and elegant: a careful arrangement of sleek, curving white lines and luxurious black accents. It is the sort of space that demands reverence, not least because upon entering the eyes are immediately drawn upward, where affixed to the ceiling is a magnificent sculptural fixture made of MDF board. Eight concentric rings cascade downwards, punctuated by an enigmatic mirror in the centre. Each disk features recessed LED lights and takes a different shape as it reaches for the space below. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -------------------------------------------------The space is grounded with white Cambria stone tile flooring, a deliberately uplifting arrangement set off by black leather chairs and black granite tables. Flat-screen monitors embedded into the wall add dimension and modernity to an already futuristic room.

The display case of eyewear curves like a regal Siza building. This is, without a doubt, a room made for standing and looking. - - - - - -------------------------------------------------“It was the first optometry office that we designed,” says Tania Bortolotto, principal of Borolotto Design Architect Inc. “So we

really wanted to incorporate the mechanics of the eye. The light fixture was inspired by that and particularly by depth of field.” - -------------------------------------------------Bortolotto, who trained in architecture and has been practicing since 1999, acknowledges the sculptural bent of her interiors. She explains that detailed, intricate ceilings often characterize the firm’s work. - - -------------------------------------------------“I think we’ve always been trying to define how we’re different, or define what our work is,” she says. “As an architect it takes a really long time to figure that out and I think we’re starting to do that. What ties together the design of Finch Avenue Optometry is having an architecture that is dynamic, with a lot of movement in it. It occurs on many levels, in a harmonious and holistic way.” - -------------------------------------------------The client was pleased with the results: “Patients come in and are pleasantly surprised at the openness, the brightness, and the clean look and feel of the space. I never would have expected it to look like this on the inside.” - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -------------------------------------------------•

CANADIAN INTERIORS 1/2 2016

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Photo by Tom Arban

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