Tag Archives: superkul inc. architect

Project Profile: Home/Office, superkül inc architect

December 28, 2009 By in Architecture, Designer Friend, Interior design, Toronto Tags: , , , , , Leave a comment

As my main squeeze, Timmy Stafford, famed online, digital, visual, graphic designer and I chat endlessly about both of our ideal work environments, I took a trip back to my friends superkül inc architect’s site. 

I’ve known the principals Meg and Andre for, errr um, 10 years. Yikes.  Andre shared office space with my old firm in the early days.  We collaborated on a few projects back in the day, my old firm and his; two of those collaborations  Encomium Art Gallery, and Distrikt Club, you can check out on his site. 

cover_caninter_lrWe were featured in Canadian Interiors for Encomium [Read Canadian Interiors article >] and Distrikt Club was published a few times.  I digress;  I thought I’d share their own live / work space, a former storefront in Toronto’s west end converted into modern work, meeting and living space they currently call home.

 Project: Home/Office, description and images from superkül inc architect

This project is superkül’s most autobiographical project, containing both our home and work environments. The renovation of this main street building reflects the firm’s values: an interest in infill, enthusiasm for dealing with social community issues by example, the revitalization of the city, the creation of additional density on Toronto’s main streets, and a strategic approach to urban sustainability.

The site was originally occupied by a two-storey building with a shop on the ground floor and an apartment above, in an emerging and under-valued neighbourhood in Toronto’s west end. Conversion to Home/Office involved its wholesale renovation and the addition of a third floor, creating a studio office on the ground and basement floors and an apartment on the second and third. The massing and height of the building take their cues from adjacent fabric, as do window proportions and heights. Materials evoke those of its commercial and residential neighbours, tying it into the streetscape within a modernist palette and architectural vocabulary.

The building is divided almost equally between home and office space but is designed to be flexible, with small changes to the circulation and the partitioning easily resulting in a different proportion of uses.

Source [ www.superkul.ca] images [by Ben Rahn / A-Frame Inc.]

  

Distrikt Club Publications

 51hxexkcvzl__sl500_aa240_100 of the World’s Best Bars. Victoria, Australia: Images Publishing. 2005

71534  Broto, Carles. Club Design. Barcelona: Links Books. 2006

73408 Deliyannis, Melina, ed. A Pocketful of Bars. Victoria, Australia: Images

SHIFT Cottage – Superkül inc | Architect

August 5, 2009 By in Architecture Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , 2 Comments

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Another project by my friends at Toronto’s Superkül inc | Architect.  An incredible example of allowing the site to dictate the plan, and the seemless marriage that occurs when done right.

Project Description:

The site for this 2000-square-foot family cottage on an island in Georgian Bay was chosen for its topography and orientation. Nestled into the exposed, washed granite of the island and against a line of trees, the cottage is sheltered against the strong winds off of the water.

The graphic lines of the cottage are designed to further marry it to its site—highlighting through contrast the wind-sculpted trees and craggy rock of the Bay that make its landscape unique.

A glass link bridges between the cottage’s two volumes—one containing living spaces, the other sleeping and washing areas—and a wood deck terraces down to fold into the island on three sides.

Window openings throughout are aligned to allow through views to the trees behind and the open water in front. The pure forms of the cottage are highlighted and reinforced through material choice, including knotty cedar cladding, a standing seam metal roof, and a dry-laid stone fireplace.

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Description and photograph source [www.superkul.ca] Photos by Tom Arban

40R Laneway House – superkül inc | architect

June 1, 2009 By in Architecture, Toronto Tags: , , , , , , , 5 Comments

Shaftsbury__6_40R Lane way House, by superkül inc | architect

My friends at superkül inc | architect  recently completed this renovation of a narrow, seemingly unsalvageable lane way house.  The result is a stunning contemporary dwelling with private roof top terrace.  The principals at this Toronto-based practice, Andre D’Elia and Margaret (Meg) Graham, both former KPMBers, have been securing a strong foot hold as leaders in the cities contemporary design community.

Project Description:

Once a blacksmith’s shop, then a horse shed and later an artist’s apartment and studio, this lane way building in Toronto was purchased by its current owners in 2006. Interested both in the character of the building and smaller footprint living, they wanted to convert it into single-family residence—while retaining as much of the character of the existing building as possible.

Located on a 40’x18’ lot, it is built to the property lines on 3 sides, with 2’ to spare on the fourth. Current zoning regulations don’t allow for additional openings in any of the walls, so the design strategy was to draw additional light, air and views from above. A light shaft topped by skylights runs the length of the west wall of the building, broken only by a courtyard on the second floor. The shaft brings light to the ground floor, and provides passive ventilation. On the second floor, a glass and wood wrapped courtyard separates the two bedrooms. From the courtyard, with its primary view to the sky, there is a small stair up to a roof garden.

The existing rusted steel cladding panels on the building were catalogued before they were removed. They were then brake-formed with a flat-lock seam and re-installed as the primary building skin. Black-stained knotty cedar clads the remainder of the building.

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 Source: [www.superkul.ca] Photos by: [Tom Arban / superkül / Lorne Bridgman]

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