Noah Ryzewicz
Project 1 - A Laneway Suite:
Project 1 - A Laneway Suite:
Laneway Suite 542 Beresford Avenue
Residents from a wide range of occupational, cultural, and socioeconomic backgrounds are having difficulty obtaining and maintaining proper housing in Toronto. With increasing populations and difficulty to obtain a home, underutilized spaces in Toronto need to be revisited. The laneway suite is a new building typology that is on the rise in the city, utilizing the abandoned garages on many of Toronto’s laneways. Typically located in the backyard of a detached, semi-detached, townhouse, or other low-rise house, this self-contained residential unit is often smaller in size, at a max of 8mx10m, and ultimately contributes to a wider range of housing options within the city.
The proposed design for the 542 Beresford Avenue laneway suite is a comfortable and private home intended for couple. It prioritizes privacy from the laneway and redirects the focus to the central courtyard between the suite and main residence. With the change in levels and use of sliding doors, spaces such as the interior lounge and exterior common space, or the dining space and deck space become blurred as they seamlessly flow from interior to exterior. Privacy within these exterior spaces is created using planters and hedges, while the use of perforated brick walls allows for light into more private areas of the home such as the main bedroom and study. The subtle change in floor and ceiling height gives each space a sense of identity, whether in the expansive lounge space or more intimate kitchen, these changes influence the atmosphere of that space, making the home feel larger than it is.
The proposed design for the 542 Beresford Avenue laneway suite is a comfortable and private home intended for couple. It prioritizes privacy from the laneway and redirects the focus to the central courtyard between the suite and main residence. With the change in levels and use of sliding doors, spaces such as the interior lounge and exterior common space, or the dining space and deck space become blurred as they seamlessly flow from interior to exterior. Privacy within these exterior spaces is created using planters and hedges, while the use of perforated brick walls allows for light into more private areas of the home such as the main bedroom and study. The subtle change in floor and ceiling height gives each space a sense of identity, whether in the expansive lounge space or more intimate kitchen, these changes influence the atmosphere of that space, making the home feel larger than it is.
