Project Category: Featured

Located just north of Toronto, Kings Cross is an idyllic rural community with rolling streets and architecturally distinct houses dating back to the 1960s. House in Kings Cross is a new build whose style is thoroughly modern in both design and performance. Nestled into the landscape, the house occupies the footprint of a previous home to minimize ecological disruption and emphasize a deep connection to nature. 

The oversized Mansard-style roof is the home’s most distinguishing feature. Reminiscent of a traditional stone roof, it behaves as a privacy screen from the street; the front and north-sloped façades are designed to be a folding plane that opens up at various levels towards the extensive ravine below. The interior design emphasizes space, form, light, and a connection to the natural world while providing varied experiences unique to each space.

The materials, chosen for their natural properties and ability to endure the regional climate, reinforce the ethereal quality of the home. The main façades are clad in triple-layered slate, supported by stainless steel clips — a system that can last up to 100 years — complemented by wood-framed windows. The unblemished white interiors create fields to catch light. Stone, glass, and wood finishes add warmth and provide a neutral stage from which to view the changing seasonal colours.

The house features VOC-free materials and embraces passive-first strategies: the siting optimizes its orientation vis-à-vis solar mitigation, maximized daylight, and passive ventilation. Radiant flooring, geothermal heating and cooling, and photovoltaic technologies further reduce the home’s dependency on non-renewable energy sources. With a remarkable Energy Efficiency Rating of 80, House in Kings Cross achieved an Energy Star rating and surpassed R2000 requirements.

Bézier Curve House began at the initiative of custom home builder Farhad Kazmian, owner of Abond Homes. Kazmian wanted to replace his house in Toronto’s Lawrence Park neighbourhood with a design that would serve as a showpiece for his business. Seeking the antithesis of a “boxy fishbowl” design, he selected Bortolotto for our spirited and sculptural style. 

We took as our starting point the original home’s atypical front courtyard. The family was fond of the lushly landscaped oasis, which included a lap pool. To preserve and make the most of this remarkable private retreat, we began by designing an L-shaped building, with a chalet-style elevation on the west side that balances the courtyard on the east. 

To achieve an organic shape for the roofline and forge a complementary relationship with the Tudor Revival-style home on the adjacent lot, we used Grasshopper software to design a softly curved roof. Named for a Bézier curve — a parametric curve generated by this kind of modelling software — the home is defined by a curvilinear profile that softens the overall architectural form. The sinuous portion of the roof extends outward from the straight edge of the A-frame and cradles the courtyard and front door in three dimensions. Clad with hand-laid, diamond-shaped zinc shingles that sparkle in the sun, the roof conjures a shimmering reptilian body while its rich grey tone blends in with the neighbouring slate roofs. In the valley above the doorway, a series of eye-catching, twisted zinc snow guards form a protective barrier and highlight the dip in the roof.

To bring this roof to life in an economical fashion, the team resorted to old-world techniques. We specified a structure that consists of evenly spaced wood joists that, when tied and pulled to their maximum tension, fan out into a natural curve. At a key juncture inside the home, we left the fanned structure exposed and wrapped it in red oak veneer, creating a sculptural moment that recalls a gothic cathedral while also establishing shapes and palettes that informed other interior elements. The curved central staircase, for example, picks up on the rhythm of the roof rafters while the second-floor hardwood flooring was laid at the same angle as the stair and rafters, splaying throughout the home’s private spaces. Together, these details create a feeling of movement that washes through the house.

The expansive A-frame window on the second floor is also a feat of careful design and engineering. The connection points for its substantial load are tucked within a robust frame that is hidden by tapered fins, giving the front elevation the illusion of lightness. This window provides a playful element from which the family can communicate with the community: they often leave the lights on at night and create seasonal displays, inviting neighbours and passersby to stop and appreciate views into the home’s dynamic architecture.