A push and pull of interior volumes manifest in an exterior form that offers the occupants a meaningful relationship with the outdoors.

In Toronto’s postwar neighbourhoods, modest bungalows are being replaced by faux-historical mansions. Standing in bold contrast is Shift House by Dubbeldam Architecture + Design. An unapologetically modern insertion, Shift House features a stepped façade defined by projecting and retracting volumes, highlighted by contrasting cladding to emphasize the volumetric gestures. Western red cedar fills the void left by retracted volumes, providing a striking foil to the charcoal gray exterior. Meanwhile, the gently sloping roof extends from front to back, maintaining a low datum line on the street as it forms a comparatively horizontal expression.

Shift House’s 300-square-meters are spread over two storeys and, through strategic spatial arrangements, respond to the family’s desire for a meaningful connection with the outdoors. The layout of the house consists of an interior grid of six staggered volumes, shifted in and out to shape the exterior envelope. The resulting sculpted façade with its interplay of solids and voids creates opportunities for greater light transmission, additional views, and access to outdoor space at multiple levels through corner windows, generous roof overhangs, green roofs, and balconies on the second floor.

Permeability and openness are dominant design themes throughout the house. The porosity of the front façade is a friendly gesture to the street, and a glazed rear elevation connects the family to the surrounding environment, blurring the boundary between interior and exterior space. The rear facade’s protruding and extending volumes form sheltered and covered zones, delineating outdoor areas with differing character. A wide deck across the back of the house effectively doubles the living/dining area in temperate months, becoming a generous outdoor room for dining, reading and relaxation.

On the interior adjacent to the backyard, a double-height atrium with a fully-glazed wall provides an expansive view of the neighbourhood’s mature trees, inviting natural light deep into the interior and magnifying the grandeur of this – in truth – modest space. Central to the atrium is a sculptural staircase defined by a solid balustrade of white oak and Baltic birch. “The stair’s scissor configuration forms a compelling and dynamic three-dimensional geometric composition, animated by the procession of figures as they ascend and descend between the different levels of the house,” explains principal Heather Dubbeldam. “We wanted the design of the stair to impart a sense of craftsmanship, while also evoking a feeling of movement and energy. This is achieved through a distinct wood grain on a diagonal, and the monolithic nature of the stair guard.”

The house employs many sustainable systems. Strategically placed operable windows maximize passive cooling and natural ventilation, while a small pump powers the radiant in-floor heating system. Photovoltaic panels on the roof provide an additional source of electricity while LED light fixtures and an efficient high-velocity cooling system reduce electricity demand. Green roofs and robust landscaping minimize rainwater run-off, and triple glazing and low-E coatings reduce both heat gain and loss. Visually impactful, Shift House is also environmentally responsible.

Photos credit: Shai Gil, Riley Snelling 

A common suburban site, through connected design, re-introduces place to its land.

Dove is a series of interconnected pavilions in the landscape. The 5,000 square-foot, L-shaped home is at its peak a space for dining, transiting into a low living space. Each room is independently situated and connected to multiple inner routes, so each main space becomes a destination. The experience of moving through the project is envisioned as a walkthrough Ontario woods and meadows. The heart of the home wraps around back-to-back fireplaces within monolithic concrete trunks. Natural light occurs through glimpses, washing walls, and reflecting off surfaces.

This project employs a concept of environmental stewardship that is often overlooked. Enduring materials that will embrace time were chosen throughout the home. The goal of connectedness is to produce lasting empathy and a sense of belonging to the natural world.

Connectivity revealed through the structure

Dove is conceived as a series of interconnected tents or pavilions in the landscape rather than rooms filling out a governing shell. The tents orchestrate a succession of surprises. At its peak, a soaring grand gathering space for dining transits to a low, intimate, fire-lit living space. Each space is independently situated and connected to multiple inner routes – conceived as trails – so that each main room becomes a destination. The project brings importance to the paths between spaces as much as the rooms themselves.

“Forest bathing” – health from within 

The experience of moving through the project is envisioned as a walk through Ontario woods and meadows — gently up over logs, under low canopies, dramatically sweeping to towering heights, squeezing through rock canyons, passing water streams… all lit from unusual and unexpected places. The heart of the home wraps around back-to-back fireplaces within monolithic concrete trunks, like a gathering place at a clearing in the forest. Natural light is celebrated through glimpses, washing walls, and reflections off surfaces. Every moment of each day of the year creates entirely different qualities of light and shadow play.

Sustainability & biomorphic design

This project employs a concept of environmental stewardship that is often overlooked. Beyond the quantifiable environmental hurdles, the project has achieved, its envelope, ground-source heating and cooling, electrical harvesting, sunshine management, and resilient materials aim to directly connect the occupant in a memorable and meaningful way with its setting. The house opens and closes to highlight close and distant landscapes- low foregrounds contrasting with tree canopies and celestial events. The effect of natural light washes textures at specific moments of the day and year, telling different stories as time and seasons march on. The goal of connectedness is to produce lasting empathy and a sense of belonging and stewardship to the natural world. 

Dove is a 5,000 sq ft L-shaped residence. It is designed to be highly efficient, relying on little resources to perform. 41 photovoltaic panels on its highest roof provide electricity that surpasses the home’s demands, allowing its surplus energy to be feed back into the grid. Geothermal energy is harnessed to condition the building throughout the seasons. Its thermal performance is enhanced by a robust blanket on all sides. When concrete masses travel from inside to outside, a distinct thermal-separation buffer is achieved. 

The building enjoys green gardens on its flat roofs – these gardens are populated with local, drought tolerant plants, and are irrigated with collected site water.

Internal cast-concrete towers and walls are used to create visceral textural richness and are also designed to perform as structural armatures supporting the roof structure above. The concrete was engineered as masts to anchor a network of structural steel frames spanning across the interior spaces and beyond. This system allows the wood ceiling forms to sculpturally weave through the project and pass from space to space, seemingly floating without support. The monumental heaviness of the concrete forms creates play between the expansive openings and the lightness of the folded roof forms.

Material palette inspired by nature 

Enduring materials that will embrace time were chosen throughout the home. The folded main roof, lined with white birch on the interior and rich weathering steel on its outer skin, rises gently through the spaces, cradling the interior warmly like a tent. To enhance the tactile experience a material palette was developed holding strong juxtapositions such as the reflective, boldly-patterned green coloured stone of the counter surfaces and warm oak floors and millwork to the surface of the concrete, carrying the grain of the rough wood boards used to form it, creating a rich tactile character and expressing the memory of its making.

Product design & allied arts

In addition to the architectural design of both the exterior and interior, the design work included custom lighting fixtures, bespoke rugs, and built-in furniture, as well as the greenhouse and covered walkway, the pool, and the landscaping—each element working in concert to achieve a harmonious whole.

Photographers: Steven Evans Photography, doublespace Photography