Weiss Architecture + Urbanism’s light-filled Shudell House imaginatively addresses ageing-in-place design issues, while negotiating the ‘bowling alley’ dimensions of typical residential lots in older parts of Toronto.

Its owners are a travel writer and a retired buffalo rancher with two young children at home and one older child living independently. The couple wanted an easily adaptable home, suitable for their kids’ evolving stages of life, and their own long-range needs. From the outset, they knew they also wanted a laneway house that could at some point become a caregiver’s residence. (For information about this auxiliary dwelling, please see Weiss Architecture + Urbanism’s Pocket Laneway House.)

Shudell House’s striking deployment of buff and dark-brown brick is a tribute to its east-end neighbourhood’s heritage. Known locally as “The Pocket", this district today has a rail line along its south edge, and a transit yard along its east edge. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, it was the site of multiple quarries and brick works. The traditional diamond patterning on the front façade’s top storey – known as ‘diapering’ – gives the house a distinctive identity, while the use of brick itself and the residence’s massing ensure that this new home fits in well with its much older neighbours. In a city that was not only a brick manufacturing hub, but also a place where many virtuoso brick masons practised their trade, Shudell House updates the art of polychromatic brickwork for the 21st century.

Situated on a street of older houses with main entries via a raised porch, this house meets ageing-in-place criteria with an entrance at grade, through a sheltered patio, with relatively tall plantings close to the street edge to mitigate the 'fishbowl' effect of an at-grade living room. The residence has an elevator and a roll-in shower, and a kitchen designed to be easily convertible to universal accessibility dimensions.

Counteracting the lot’s deep and narrow configuration, light wells, skylights, and a double-height, ground-floor dining area with a second-floor overlook bring a generous amount of natural light into the interior.

Technical sheet

Location:  Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Architect: Weiss Architecture & Urbanism Limited - Kevin Weiss, Principal

Engineer: Shannon Hilchie

Contractor: Carmelin Design + Build

Photography: David Whittaker and Birdhouse Media