An urban oasis in Toronto

Through House is a bright, modern and open dwelling created by renovating a century-old building standing on a narrow plot in downtown Toronto. In accordance with the owners’ wishes, the project created by local practice Dubbledam Architecture + Design improved the comfort and liveability of what were previously dark and cramped interiors. The result is an airy 135-square-metre dwelling set on two levels. The sense of spaciousness was further accentuated by the choice of an open-plan layout and by features that form a physical and visual connection between the interior of the house and the intimate rear garden. The built-in furnishings, which blend perfectly with the architecture and serve to identify the various areas in the absence of a clear separation between rooms, underscore the sense of linearity and the outward-looking perspective, which is further emphasised by the choice of materials. The long monolithic structure that incorporates the marble kitchen top, the wooden dining table and the outdoor dining area (covered by a pergola) into a single multifunctional and visual element is a key design feature. The kitchen worktop in particular appears to extend through the glass wall and link up with an outdoor barbecue, a counterpart to the indoor fireplace that separates the kitchen from the living area and is clad with an unusual and visually-striking covering of industrial felt castoffs. The sense of a seamless connection between the indoor and outdoor areas is further enhanced by the floor-to-ceiling windows and the continuity of the surface covering materials. The porcelain floor tiles (Casalgrande Padana, Granitogres line, Architetture series, cool grey, 30×60 cm) extends seamlessly from the kitchen to the living area and the outdoor dining room, powerfully emphasising the graphic lines of the grout joints. Ceramic tiles were also used in the bathrooms and the laundry room.
Sustainability is another cornerstone of the project, combining active sustainable systems with low-cost passive strategies to maximise energy savings, namely passive cooling and natural ventilation in the summer and radiant floor and thermal mass heating in the winter.
The successful interplay of architectural, functional and technical aspects won the Through House project the honourable mention in the residential category in the 2016 edition of the Ceramics of Italy Tile Competition.