SKYGARDEN HOUSE
PROJECT DESCRIPTION Situated on a narrow lot in an older Toronto neighbourhood, the Skygarden House provides outdoor living spaces on multiple levels to address the owners’ desire for a better connection to the home’s natural surroundings. The owners used to spend their weekends at their country home, located next to a stream and surrounded by trees; they wanted their new home in the city to mimic this bucolic experience in an urban environment, and they wanted their home to be as sustainable as possible. Although the house is only 2,420 square feet, it feels much larger—its rooms expand beyond the interior to a series of useable outdoor spaces that enrich the domestic experience, each with its own unique character and varying level of privacy. The rear yard is landscaped and features a generously scaled thermally-treated ash wood deck, and a few steps down, another zone defined by granite pavers is planted with a row of honey locust trees that offer dappled light and shade in summer. Even the existing porch at the front of the house is remade into a private outdoor dining room enclosed by a five-foot-high wood screen, extending the private realm into the public arena. On the third floor, two outdoor spaces provide green respite. An exposed roof deck at the back of the house has plentiful views over the neighbourhood and into the extensive green canopy surrounding the house. At the front of the house, half of the master bedroom is given over to an intimate exterior space clad in the warm ash, with a recessed planter and an opening carved into the roof for natural light, access to rainwater, and ample views of green. Intimately connected to the master suite, this “skygarden” functions as a unique outdoor room, open to the sky, sun, wind and stars.
The old porch at the front of the house is remade into a private outdoor dining room enclosed by a five-foot-high wood screen, extending the private realm into the public arena.
Working with the existing footprint of a century-old fully detached house in the city’s midtown neighbourhood, only the two side exterior walls of the original building were maintained. Referencing the traditional domestic scale and form of its neighbours, the Skygarden House presents a fresh and graphic interpretation of the traditional pitched roof with a sublimely clean elevation. In contrast to the solid brick side elevations, the front and rear façades are almost fully transparent. Planes of floor-to-ceiling glass, comprised of a combination of windows, doors and spandrel panels, create a physical and visual connection to the outdoors. They frame views to the exterior, bringing natural light and the experience of the changing seasons into the interior, and they create ever-important access to outdoor spaces on both lower and upper levels. The complete overhaul of the house resulted in a significant reduction in its ecological footprint. To achieve the most efficient methods of heating, cooling and lighting while minimizing costs, the mechanical and electrical systems are integrated with passive design strategies. Highly efficient infloor radiant heating, high velocity cooling systems, superior insulation, and energy-saving fixtures and appliances were introduced, and combined with passive sustainable systems to optimize energy use in all seasons. The open plan is organized around a central vertical volume containing the sculptural open-riser stair. A large operable skylight above draws natural light deep into the interior and improves natural ventilation through stack effect, reducing the need for air conditioning. The abundance of glazing coupled with the house’s east-west orientation results in plenty of natural light at all hours of the day, decreasing the need for artificial lighting. Site vegetation screens the west façade to mitigate glare and excessive heat gain in summer months, but in winter, when the leaves are gone, solar gain from low sun is encouraged to help heat the house. Skygarden House is a modern home that considers the context of the street and carefully reimagines its interior spaces and their relationship to the outdoors.
The master bedroom is located on the third floor adjacent to the skygarden, and allows the clients to enjoy ample natural light and views of the trees instead of the streetscape.
A 10.5 foot high sliding glass door provides access to the backyard deck, while expading the living room into the outdoors during the warmer months.
The skygarden connected to the master bedroom functions as a unique outdoor room, open to the sky, sun, wind and stars. The operable skylight above the open stair allows hot air to vent in the summer, creating passive ventilation, as well as provide ample natural lighting to the floors below.
A long kitchen island provides a generous surface for cooking and entertaining. In the dining room, a custom moveable wall allows the main living space to be sealed o from the entrance vestibule during the winter.
The footprint of the original house was retained, along with the existing walls on the north and south sides. Landscaping was utilized to extend the living space to the exterior. A green roof was added above the garage.
The kitchen island and custom millwork shelving delineate the kitchen, in an otherwise open plan. A planter, raised to the level of the kitchen window, provides ample space for the growth of plants and obscures the view from the neighbouring house.
Skygarden
Master Bedroom
Roof Deck
Bedroom
Bathroom
Third floor plan
Laundry Room
Bedroom
Study
Ensuite Bathroom
Walk-In Closet
Second floor plan
Rear Entrance Vestibule
Rear Deck
Powder Room
Outdoor Dining Room
Living Room Dining Room
Ground floor plan
Kitchen
Cbinetry with touch-latch hardware provides a clean elevation for all kitchen wares, while a custom millwork shelf provides space for the owners’ to display a collection of unique bowls and dishes.
A custom steel, open-riser staircase extends from the basement up to the third floor. The provides physical and air circulation between the various levels of the home, while simultaneously illuminating them via the skylight from above.
Dappled light enters the second-floor bathrooom, from the street’s tree canopy.
A bedroom on the third floor faces the outdoor roofdeck, which provides amples views of the neighbourhood beyond. Floor-to-ceiling windows that face east provide this room with a privileged view of the sunrise.
At the front of the house, half of the master bedroom is given over to an intimate exterior space clad in warm thermally-treated ash, with a recessed planter and an opening carved into the roof for natural light, access to rainwater, and ample views of green.
The front of the house responds to the neighbouring context, in terms of scale and pitched roof. Generous glazing allows light to penetrate deep into the house, from both front and back.