Highland House

When working with this ardent heritage neighbourhood in mid-town Toronto, it is rare to find a heritage property designated as ‘unrated’. This gives the owner a unique opportunity to demolish a building in poor condition with no historic value, build anew and, as a result, upgrade the district’s overall cultural heritage. Throughout the design, historical precedents and heritage guidelines were interwoven with current building technologies and material durability, reinforcing the overall cultural sustainability within the neighbourhood. The full support of the local rate payer’s association, preservation board, planning and building departments, committee of adjustment, community council, city council and, most importantly, the neighbours was orchestrated through due process. The design incorporates a high-performance envelope, triple-glazed windows, vertical stack effect and cross-ventilation strategies, underscored by the client’s desire for a simpler aesthetic with clean lines and contemporary no-frills interiors. The result is an elegant house built today, which embodies the cultural heritage of past centuries yet is infused with building technologies that take it into the next.