Studio Altius Architecture has completed the Ellis Park House project, a sigle-family house located in the Bloor West Village neighborhood of Toronto, Canada. According to the architects, this contemporary residence was conceived as an “ecological urban home that places a bold emphasis on sustainability and contemporary living.
The home was constructed on an overgrown infill site, just steps from Bloor Street, that was considered unbuildable because of its 45 slope and shallow depth. The design of the house is thoroughly modern, with bright day-lit open concept spaces that are defined by the extensive use traditional sustainable materials including cork, reclaimed stone, birch and marine plywood, clay brick, copper and Douglas fir. A broad third floor roof deck with a well defined green edge engages the street life on Ellis Park Road while an extensive green roof atop the house provides a rare vista of nothing but tree tops except for the tip of the CN Tower piercing High Park’s canopy. The design and construction of the home provided the architectural team with the opportunity to experiment with various systems, materials and assemblies, providing real world experience and long term monitoring to verify theories and assumptions that could not be tested on private clients.