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Project Details:

Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Architect: Anya Moryoussef Architect / @anyamoryoussef_architect

Footprint: 720 square feet

Builder: Desar Construction Studio Inc.

Structural Engineer: Kieffer Engineering

Landscape Design: Zahra Awang

Cabinetry Fabrication and Installation: Renca + Heilimo Inc.

Photographer: Doublespace / @2spacephoto

Photographer: Scott Norsworthy / @norsworthyscott

From the Architect: “An unassuming single-story worker’s cottage was turned from a run-down house built tight to the property lines into a luminous and ethereal refuge of modest, carefully sculpted proportions. It was designed sustainably for aging in place and everyday well-being.

“Craven Road represents an unusual urban condition. Previously known as Erie Terrace, the street was originally developed as a ‘shacktown’ just beyond the city limits, housing lower-income laborers and immigrants in the early 20th century. With small dwellings lining the east side only and a municipal fence running along the west, this atypical thoroughfare earned the moniker Tiny Town for having Toronto’s highest concentration of detached homes under 500 square feet. Today, Craven Road remains a close-knit community and unique architectural outpost in an increasingly unaffordable city.

“Our client, Laurel Hutchison, was a retired schoolteacher on a fixed income, with a budget initially earmarked for basic renovations that would rescue her home from disrepair. We discovered, however, that having suffered extensive water, fire, and termite damage, the dark and diminutive house required a wholesale renovation that would effectively amount to a full rebuild.

“Inspired by intimate conversations with Laurel about how she wanted to live and feel in her space as she continued to grow older, we were motivated to meet the following challenges: How do you build small (720 sf), affordably, and sustainably while also prioritizing uplifting design that supports psychological health and aging in place? How do we work within rigid municipal requirements to not only retain, but also maximize the existing single-story footprint, while effectively rebuilding the home from the foundation up, without displacing Laurel for additional time at her own expense? How can we respect the street’s vernacular fabric and cultural history while reimagining the worker’s cottage typology to create a restorative and hyper-functional home?”