Danforth Home.
A sustainable renovation and addition
This renovation project near The Danforth has allowed the family to maintain their familiar surroundings and neighbourhood connections, while updating their existing home.
The ground floor was opened up to create a large room with a connected kitchen, dining room, and living area opening out to a rear garden. The back of the house features a large sliding panoramic door to access the rear deck. With an open floor plan inside, it is possible for all rooms to be used separately, while maintaining connections throughout.
The second floor features new bathrooms and renovated bedrooms, with new fixtures and finishes throughout. The third floor is accessed from above the existing stair, adding dormers on both sides of the house to provide additional headroom. While previously a large open space with low headroom, it now features new full-height bedroom, bathroom, and study.
A durable, self-venting Galvalume metal roof helps lower the cooling load of the home in the summer time. Three small, wall-mounted air-source heat-pump units keep the house cool. These units have individual thermostats on each floor, allowing for fine-tuning to improve efficiency. In-floor radiant heat is featured on the ground floor, with hot-water radiators on the second and third floors. These are paired with a high-efficiency Heat Recovery Ventilator (HRV) to provide ventilation and fresh air to all spaces.
All windows were replaced with well-sealed, aluminum-clad wood windows. Openings were made air-tight to reduce thermal loss through windows and air leakage through any gaps, including the large sliding panoramic door on the ground floor.
Approvals included Committee of Adjustment and Urban Forestry.
Details
Location: Toronto, ON
Completion: 2012
Area: 279 m², 3,000 ft²
Project Lead: Donald Peckover
Structural: K H Davis Consulting Engineers
Mechanical: Elite HVAC
Contractor: Severn Woods
Landscape: Urban Garden
Photography: George Opreff
Photograph by Owner
From the client
“We hired Paul at Sustainable to design the gut of our 3-storey Riverdale home. He really understood our needs and design sense. Paul made a number of suggestions that we thought were “off-the-wall” to start (such as putting the kitchen in the front of the house, and an all-metal roof), all of which we now love.
Paul and Donald also worked hard to work around a number of the building permit issues related to the Committee of Adjustments and various zoning issues, which we would not have been able to figure out ourselves.
We’re thrilled with our new house and would recommend Paul, Donald and Sustainable.”