Westminster Residence reinvents the time-honored gabled type that populates Toronto’s Excessive Park neighborhood by remodeling it into one thing each respectful of context and boldly modern. Designed by Batay-Csorba Architects, the architects made a acutely aware resolution to have a good time quite than conceal the underside of the roof. The steeply pitched terracotta roof hovers above a shadowy brick quantity, making a presence each acquainted and unsettling.
As described by the architects: “The uncomplicated venture type is a composition of three shadowy monolithic figures, a low shadowy brick-clad quantity, a weighty triangular stone-clad roof, and towering rectilinear dormers. The weighty roof hovers asymmetrically on prime of the primary ground, cantilevering the coated carport and aspect patio and producing an unsettling lively between the uncomplicated volumes. Comparable in dimension and materiality, the dormers tackle diametrically reverse stances within the venture, with one grounding the west façade because it meets the bottom, and the east dormer inexplicably cantilevered and hovering above the carport.”
Shadowy stained walnut and weighty unfilled travertine reinforce the load of the house, whereas white oak flooring and supple lime-washed partitions supply counterbalancing lightness. This materials pressure mirrors the formal pressure between the asymmetrically balanced volumes – a weighty triangular stone roof that seems to drift above the brick base, and dormers that concurrently floor and hover. The architects additionally fastidiously thought of how these supplies would age. The pure patina that may develop on the scratchy terracotta shingles, hand-pressed brick, and uncooked galvanized metal will regularly harmonize with the spreading panorama.
The aspect yard’s acid-etched concrete patio is detailed to seem as if hovering above the sloping panorama. The acid-etching course of provides the concrete a refined texture that catches airy otherwise all through the day. A gaunt metallic line creates a exact boundary that manages water runoff whereas visually separating the patio from the constructing’s basis.
For extra data on Batay-Csorba Architects, go to batay-csorba.com.
