The Cedarvale Ravine House is a 3350 square feet home for a family of four that is located at the edge of the Toronto Cedarvale Ravine. The ravine system, the most distinctive feature of Toronto’s geography, comprises of extraordinary arteries that flow through the city giving unique access to the wilderness. This infill house sits on a typical mid-town residential neighborhood street, but opens to protected woodlands at the rear of the property. The building mass is formed by pushing and pulling the desired volume across the site. It is further manipulated with void spaces. The sculptural expression solves programmatic requirements, maximizes views, provides natural light, and enhances the promenade and transition from sub-urban streetscape to contact with very primal forms of nature.
The circulation of the house weaves through a modulation of intimate and expansive spaces and courtyards that lead to a glass-enclosed single-story space at the rear of the property. This is the kitchen and family room, the heart of the house. It also defines the south edge of the courtyard. This volume has been pushed down to one story in order to permit light to the interior and views out to the ravine. Large expanses of glass dematerialize the monolithic stone building and dissolve boundaries between the interior and exterior.
At the second floor, a zinc-clad cantilevered superstructure frames views from the inside and gestures to the woodlands. It floats above and beyond the main stone volume and allows the re-naturalized ravine plantings to be brought farther into the site. A lap pool reflects light into the space under the second floor cantilever where a family can enjoy outdoor activities around the pool and barbeque.
The private areas located on the second floor feature operable floor-to-ceiling glazing with sliding interior wooden shutters. The system allows one to control sunlight, privacy, air flow, and noise as desired.
The second floor is diverges into two wings separated by a double height dining space and its adjacent open courtyard. The spaces are traversed by a bridge that leads to the master bedroom suite and access to a green roof. It contains wildflowers and a vegetable garden for family meals, while also insulating the one-story family room-kitchen below. The green roof brings the ravine to the foreground at the second floor spaces.
The project undertook a ravine stewardship, including storm water management, removal of invasive species, and a planting plan to re-naturalize the ravine. New plantings were selected to contribute to the growth of both understory and tree canopy for sustainable re-forestation.
The restrained and limited material palette of stone, walnut, and concrete avoids unnecessary ornamentation in order to focus one’s attention on the site, natural light, and movement through modulated open spaces. The Cedarvale Ravine House provides opportunities to celebrate the everyday rituals of residential life and enhances the slow unfolding experience of a special site.
