Haus Skyview is the transformation of a modest wartime bungalow into a contemporary, high-performance family home in Toronto's east end. Rather than replacing the existing structure, the project reimagines it through a complete interior reconstruction, basement underpinning, a new second storey, and a two-storey rear addition. The result is a home of approximately 1,800 square feet across three levels that demonstrates how thoughtful planning can create generous, light-filled spaces within a compact footprint.
The clients approached us with the ambition to transform their bungalow into an energy-efficient, modern home that would support their young family for years to come. They envisioned a house filled with natural light, generous spaces for everyday living and entertaining, and a layout that felt open while maintaining clearly defined areas. Flexibility was equally important, with the ability to adapt the home as their family's needs evolve, including the future conversion of the double-height volume above the kitchen into a third bedroom. With complete trust in our vision, they gave us the freedom to develop the architectural concept, spatial organization, and material palette from the ground up.
The design is centred on the experience of moving through the home. While the main floor is open and visually connected from front to back, the spaces unfold gradually rather than revealing themselves all at once. Carefully positioned built-in elements around the kitchen define individual living, dining, and cooking areas without interrupting the natural flow of the house. This layered organization creates comfortable proportions throughout the interior, and although the house occupies a long and relatively narrow footprint, it never feels constrained — each space has its own identity while remaining connected to the whole. Natural light was a guiding principle from the earliest sketches: every primary living space receives daylight, with the new rear addition and double-height volume drawing light deep into the centre of the home and strengthening the relationship between the interior and the garden.
The exterior combines crisp white and black stucco with fluted composite wood cladding, expressing the contrast between the original bungalow and the contemporary additions while giving the home a restrained, modern character. Beyond its appearance, Haus Skyview was designed as a high-performance home. Passive House principles — including careful solar orientation, thermal mass, stack-effect natural ventilation, and a high-performance building envelope — informed the design from the outset, improving comfort, energy efficiency, and the quality of everyday living.
