Photography by Ryan Fung
What’s the angle on the varying angles, light-penetrating carve-outs and broken-down massing of this bungalow renovation in Toronto’s west end? They brighten an otherwise gloomy interior in the 2,080 square feet of above-ground living space on the property’s deep, narrow lot, measuring 25 by 125 feet. A rooftop skylight with lightwell brings daylight, supplementing the light from windows at the front and rear of the house, down to the kitchen and living room. An opening was punched into the side wall near the rear of the second floor to make room for a rock garden. Windows on its three inner sides brings daylight to the top of the stairs. Corrugated-steel cladding wraps the house’s sides and front, where window embrasures are clad in knotty-grained cedar that evokes formwork for poured concrete. The ground floor is open in plan and elevation, allowing passersby to look through the big front-facing dining-room window to the backyard. They can see, in the middle of the floor, the 12-foot island sheathed in Brazilian soapstone that anchors the kitchen.
