Shaft House | Toronto Canada | Urbanscape Group

Shaft House is a new and innovative modern residential project that quickly garnered widespread interest in Toronto
—Home of The Week, Globe & Mail, August 2010.

Designed by Urbanscape Group partner Ali Malek-Zadeh and Reza Aliabadi—OAA of atelier rzlbd, Shaft House is a modern infill 2 ½ storey detached single family home. Shaft House is so called because the design revolves around a central skylight that opens to every level—flooding the home with natural sunlight—resulting a light and airy spacious feeling. The shaft of light coming from the southern exposure, cleverly divides the public and private areas of the house, with the northern side of the house reserved for bedrooms which employs a shading system on the street side of the residence to enhance privacy. The home can easily be configured for 2 or 3 bedrooms.....more

Single Family Home | The Ellis Park House | Toronto | Altius Architecture

4,300 sf. Single Family Home. Toronto, Ontario. Completed 2006.

The Ellis Park House was conceived as a contemporary ecological home in Toronto’s vibrant Bloor West Village neighbourhood.
Constructed on an overgrown infill site just steps to Bloor Street the house is earth sheltered into a hillside and enjoys spectacular vistas over High Park.
The holistic and integrated approach to sustainable design results in a bold modern house with exceptional green features.
Passive strategies shape the design and greatly reduce the energy loads while advanced active systems efficiently address what little loads remain.
The Ellis Park House exemplifies residential architecture that is responsive to its site, its urban context, the contemporary lifestyles of its occupants and their desire to minimize their environmental impact.
The home was constructed on an overgrown infill site, just steps from Bloor Street, that was considered unbuildable because of its 45 slope and shallow depth.
Where others saw obstacles, the design team saw potential for an earth sheltered home, ideally sited in an urban context with good solar orientation and exceptional vistas over Toronto’s High Park.........more

Ravine Residence | Toronto | Ontario | Canada | Hariri Pontarini Architects

11,600 sf

This residence employs two volumes with carefully choreographed openings that address the public street while maintaining the importance of domestic intimacy and privacy. The back of the house takes advantage of its ravine setting with a design of transparency that maximizes the natural light and provides natural landscape vistas. Employing a vocabulary of enduring materials of French limestone, roughcast stucco, and teak windows, the house underscores the client’s desire to create a generational home....more