Grange Triple Double
A Multi-unit and Multi-generational Home in Toronto
Top: Site Plan Axonometric Bottom: Cultural Context. WIth real estate prices rising in Toronto, more families are blending households.
Grange Triple Double A Multi-unit and Multi-generational Home in Toronto Toronto, Ontario 2014
From the architect. A corner lot in Toronto’s Chinatown is the site for a multi-unit and multi-generational housing prototype. Stacking rental units, a bed-sitting room, and a single family home on a double-wide lot recognizes the possibilities of intensification latent in the morphology of Toronto’s urban fabric.
Top: Site context. View looking south from Grange Avenue. White painted brick buildings occupy all four corners. Right: Site Plan showing the location of the house in Toronto’s Chinatown. Overleaf: Huron Avenue Elevation at night.
Huron
Spadina
Creativity This project begins with the blending of two households into one. A professional couple with a young son sells their small one-bedroom condominium; Their parents downsize after becoming empty nesters. Together, they construct a scenario for living that allows for autonomy while mutually benefitting from proximity. The grandparents embrace the security of being looked after as they age while the couple is afforded a single family home in a city that is rapidly becoming unaffordable to young families. A ground floor and basement rental unit allows the family to maximize built form and generate income in a city that has ever increasing land values and construction costs.
Dundas
AGO
Grange
Grange Triple Double
Top: Cupping Study model of and stair. The Room Lab Bottom: Nested profiles on cut sheets.
2016 OAA Awards
Top: View of entry threshold and curved stair profile. Bottom: Nested profiles on cut sheets.
Second Suite + Duplex + Bed Sitting Room = Triple Double
Massing: The family units and rental units stack on the corner.
Ventilation: The straight stair facilitates displacement ventilation.
Context Research into the unit types allowed by the City of Toronto, shown above, provides the raw material for the spatial organization of the project. A second suite, plus a duplex, plus a bed-sitting room gives the project the right mix of unit types to make it both economically feasible and allowable under the zoning by-law, albeit in an unconventional form. A corner lot, formerly housing a dilapidated duplex, allows density to be increased by maximizing the space of the house while creating generous outdoor spaces. 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 while the rental apartment has a front yard enclosed by a dense hedge to maintain privacy in this busy neighborhood. Top: Unit type analysis Bottom: Performance diagrams
Green Spaces: The house acts like a blowfish, enclosing outdoor spaces behind garden walls, making the house seem bigger than it is.
The massing of the house intentionally conflates the units into a single gesture that holds the urban corner. Rising towards Grange Ave., the stepped section reaches the maximum height permitted by city zoning ordinances. This rising form reinforces the existing urban fabric on the corner of Grange and Huron Avenues.
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Family Entry Apartment Entry Shared Family Kitchen and Living Spaces Rental Apartment Removable closet for future at-grade connection between the apartment and the house (to accommodate ageing parents on one level) Bed-Sitting Room Bedroom Bathroom Outdoor Terrace Garage Stairs to Basement Unit
Top: Building Section Bottom: Floor Plans. Basement not shown: Apartment extension and family storage.
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Grange Triple Double
Sliding glass doors open the Cupping Room to the Tasting Bar
2016 OAA Awards
Multi-Generational and Multi-Unit Residence Toronto, Ontario 2014
Detail view of the window of the Cupping Room
Sustainability Increasing the density of living units on the site while at the same time increasing the available green spaces was a critical development in this project.The stepped section that ties these terraced spaces together culminates in a double-height space topped by an operable skylight that promotes strong, displacement ventilation from the large courtyard windows via the linear, double-run stair.The house is designed for passive cooling and ventilation. 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 the supplier deeply discounted for this low-budget build. White paint unifies the brick into a single form and ties the house into the neighbourhood where painted brick is the norm. The high-efficiency heating system was designed to provide individual unit control and allows the different sections of the house to be shut down when not in use to reduce energy consumption. Good Business To live multi-generationally would strongly suggest an early buy-in to forecast the cost and commensurate usage of the home inter-generationally.The GrangeTriple Double is readily configurable to allow for the home’s evolving living arrangements. Across a lifetime, a visual pro-forma for a home
Top Left: A view of the deck facing the living room. Top Right: Detail showing the entry integrated with painted steel house numbers.
is a convincing business case for the development. (Refer to green chart on final spread.) Future scenarios project the family using the spaces of the house and apartments in a variety of ways.The children can move into a rental unit as they gain independence, the parents move into the ground floor apartment while the kids are in university and rent out the main house to another family, then the family comes together again in the future as the couple becomes grandparents. Discreet millwork components can be removed to connect the units and allow ageing grandparents to live on one floor in a small apartment that is connected to the shared family spaces. Spaces that are shared yet autonomous and discreet yet flexible are the components that create this new type of home. Legacy The project creates a unique form for multi-unit housing 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.
Top Left: Straight-run stair from the ground floor to the third floor suite. Top Right: The uppermost window is raised to provide privacy while allowing in ample north light. The south face of the room opens onto a large deck. Bottom: A staircase-bookshelf separates the living room from the kitchen.
Grange Triple Double
2016 OAA Awards
Above: The visual pro-forma developed for the clients that was used to describe the various configurations of living while reviewing payback of investment.
Grange Triple Double