Weathering Steel House
Don Mills, Ontario
Shim Sutcliffe Architects
(Toronto, ON)
____________________

In the Toronto garden suburb of Don Mills, 1960s ranch bungalows are being leveled and replaced by large, clumsy, historically referential “monster houses.” Beige brick, taupe stucco, and reconstituted stone are the materials of this new suburban dream, complemented by decorative and ornamental landscaping. They are the antithesis of their modernist predecessors.

This house sharply contrasts its suburban context. From the street, it appears much more opaque than adjacent buildings but sculptural cut-outs in the front elevation offer glimpses of the ravine beyond. The exterior is materially rich, dark, and abstract. The L-shaped massing of the house frames a reconfigured landscape with tree-covered mounds and a sweeping meadow on the edge of the ravine. A reflecting pool and swimming pool are embedded into the centre of the plan and act as an intermediary between building and landscape. They bring reflected light, motion, and sound into the heart of the house.

Upon entering, one arrives in an extended horizontal and vertical space parallel to the front wall that connects the garage entry, front entry, basement, courtyard and second floor. One rises a few steps to the main level, where the landscape and the house unfold around the linear pool that weaves together the interior and exterior spaces. At the end of the reflecting pool axis, a pool of light from above illuminates the landing of the stairway up to the second floor, where a skylight and large windows on the north and south form a bridge between the master bedroom and the children’s wing.

Jury Comments:

The architectural quality of this suburban house owes much to the making of micro-landscapes on site to engage with both the larger setting and the interior spaces. The weathering steel cladding further registers the site and its climatic conditions. The scaled relations among furniture, room, garden and larger setting contribute to the memorability of the house.

Brit Andresen,
(Australia)
____________________