Winner of the 2017 CHBA Award for Housing Excellence. An innovative three-unit townhouse designed and built on a very tight triangular urban site. The building creates a buffer between the pleasant residential street and the commercial buildings behind it.
This 3-storey home is part of a three-unit freehold townhouse development on a very tight triangular site in a dense, urban neighbourhood.
The site is awkwardly located between a commercial alleyway and the adjacent residential community. We used this project to create a new gateway into the neighbourhood, and to act as a buffer between existing homes and nearby incompatible uses. The front façade defines a new, welcoming residential street edge. Its massing is broken down into smaller elements to respect the surrounding homes.
For privacy and security we placed primary living spaces on the 2nd floor, backstopped by a walled outdoor courtyard above the alley. Large, full height windows on the front façade offer leafy views down Gladstone Road. The ground level contains a separate live/work space off the front foyer and an attached garage facing the alley. The third floor contains three bedrooms that take advantage of unexpected valley, skyline and mountain views.
Interior detailing is bright, modern and efficient. Skylights and large windows wash the home with natural light. Open riser stairs and full-height glass interior walls contribute to a sense of openness and make the living spaces feel large despite the tight urban context.
What was the brief?
Design a custom three-unit townhome for three siblings on a difficult triangular site. And make all the units “equal”. Use the design of the building to mitigate the negative effects of a commercial alleyway behind the project.
What were the key challenges?
This project is built on a very tight triangular site which is awkwardly located between a commercial alleyway and the adjacent residential community.
What were the solutions?
The two major challenges with this project were its almost-unbuildable site and the incompatible adjacent land uses. The sensitivity of our site plan and massing solution gained us municipal and community support for a number of by-law relaxations that made this project possible. The project is designed to minimize required energy inputs by encouraging convective air flow and passive solar heating. High efficiency appliances and fixtures are used thoughout.
We designed it to create a buffer between these adjacent incompatible uses. The front façade defines a new, welcoming residential street edge. Interior spaces are bright, with clean modern details and fittings. Large windows open up to the streetscape while views to the alley are minimized. The massing of the building is a direct response to the clients’ requirement that we divide the triangular lot into “three equal parts”!
Interior detailing is bright, modern and efficient. Hard surfaces are used throughout for durability and enhanced indoor air quality. Skylights and large windows wash the deepest spaces in the home with natural light. Open riser stairs and full-height frameless-glass interior walls contribute to a sense of openness and make the living spaces feel large despite the tight urban context. The clients were on a very tight budget and that forced us to be innovative in our use of space and thoughtful in our detailing. We selected interior fixtures and finishes with a degree of refinement that exceeded their cost.
The layout is designed to be flexible as this home is built in a diverse neighbourhood whose residents have a wide range of lifestyles. For privacy and security we placed the main livingspaces on the 2nd floor, backstopped by a walled outdoor courtyard next to the alley. Large, full height windows on the front façade offer leafy views down the residential street.
The ground level contains a separate live/work space off the front foyer and an attached garage facing the alley. The third floor contains three bedrooms that take advantage of unexpected valley, skyline and mountain views.
