Toronto's Mini House
Squeezed into a 14-foot-wide lot along a Toronto street originally developed for worker housing in the 1880s is fingerprint technician and musician Patrick Flynn’s 566-square-foot house by Linebox Studio. Now defined by a multitude of architectural styles, the street’s character has changed but the tiny lot sizes, resulting in homes that measure between 300 and 500 square feet, have remained. Flynn’s home—considered large by its surrounding standards—was conceptualized by Andrew Reeves, principal at Linebox, in close concert with the owner, a true minimalist who owns only a handful of T-shirts and sleeps on a yoga mat on an upstairs perch in the home. “What I hoped to really get at was a simple, industrial house with no ornamentation—very small and not excessive,” says Flynn. The resulting double-height structure, clad in concrete and Galvalume, “is totally green by scale,” says Reeves, who has dedicated a blog to the project. “It’s rare to be able to design a space around someone willing to go that stripped down and minimalist, with very raw materials.”
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Thank you for the "before" picture. Thats the only problem I've ever had with Dwell, that I like to see the absolute beginning of projects.
Fantastic pictures of the project under construction! We really liked this project too, and had the luxury of interviewing Andrew Reeves on our site in mid October - check out the link to hear him talk about Mini House: http://slowhomestudio.com/slow-home-studio/online-workshops/an-interview-with-andrew-reeves/
The bed is a stowed yoga mat... no bed means no house. This is an office.
I would have no idea how to respond to the claim that "no bed means no house," but I can reiterate that the owner of this house indeed sleeps on a yoga mat, which is comfortable for him.
Really disappointing house that cost $385,000?!? Building costs in Toronto must be incredibly high to consider this house a success.
No handrails...not to code. $680 per square foot would build a very expensive luxury home. This one should run around $200 Sq/ft. At $680 he can't afford a bed!
Wow. You can spot Craven Ave. without even seeing the street sign. A real East End curiosity. This house will add to the eclectic mix. I hope the owner never develops arthritis... that's a lot of cold concrete, rocks and glazing for a damp Toronto winter. Especially on a yoga mat.
Yes, pretty pricey, rather ridiculous actually. What part costed so much? Seems the tall living room space could have been used for more upstairs space usage,
I think $385,000 for a house in Toronto is actually pretty reasonable. I was just looking at a 450s.f. condo, with a tiny balcony and single window wall for $250,000... I checked out the Mini House blog, and the budget is broken down there. http://lineboxstudioinc.blogspot.com/ Oh, and I think the tall spaces are what makes the house work. Obviously the owner cares more about quality of space than quantity of space.
Good to see this project is raising some great architectural debates. RD....The article and I didn't mention that the bedroom is designed to have a retractable bed that retreats into the closet (Murphy bed like). It was designed this way so the bedroom could also act as a bedroom and a library (once the bed was up) with a reading bench below it, library shelves in the closet and interesting views to the double height space below as well as the outside landscaping. (Client is a avid reader) The client also wanted spaces, furniture and the program to be flexible as he tends to rearrange his spaces and how he uses them. In the end the client didn't install the bed as he did and continues to sleep on a yoga mat. Also worth noting the concrete floor is heat (both levels) with radiant in floor hydronic heat (both the heat and the domestic hot water). Budget .....We have to compare apples to apples here. The $385,000 is everything in. Land cost, my fees, lawyer fees, interest on the mortgage during construction,13k land transfer tax (city of Toronto), 13% sales tax, sewer and water connection, contractors profit ect. We wanted to show all the numbers and present a real budget with no hidden numbers like most projects tend to show. If your talking typical construction standards they normally use “gross floor area” and construction cost only as all other costs are outside their budget. In this case the gross area is 620s.f and the construction cost is $205,000. S.F. pricing for a house this small is not a fair way to price it. I think a better way is to check its efficiency is to compare it to typical downtown Toronto Loft at 620s.f. You will find the cost of these Lofts to be the same or more then $385,000.(He got a custom stand alone home that’s designed for him).
In regards to budget and efficiency the house is also designed have one of the double height spaces to be covered. This would add a 2nd bedroom or other social space with a double height space in the front. This would add 210s.f. with little cost. However, this is not what the client wanted for his home and lifestyle. This being said we designed it for expansion to be flexible in the future as we recognize the economics of resale an other lifestyles. Railings. The interior railings only require a railing on side as per code. The outside orange colored plexi glass and metal railing is being installed soon as we had a hard time finding orange plexi glass. Thanks for all the posts. I will check in from time to time and respond.
Craven street is such a crazy mix of houses - what's cool about this project is that the client has a house (complete with yoga mat/bed) that he TRULY wanted. Good for him for seeing through to the end the house that suits him perfectly.
I think it's beautiful
awesome house on an awesome street. also on this street check out shim-sutcliffe's craven road house and studio and soon a project i've named the shoebox house at: www.ycdesigninc.com
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