In Canada, a bright-red townhouse, a playful family pad, and this bunker-like art studio show us how homes with personality can still respect their contexts.

Painter and multimedia artist Sara Maston is no stranger to picking up and moving. The gentrification of Toronto’s neighborhoods has caused the warehouses and affordable studios she previously rented to be torn down or renovated, leaving Sara scrambling to find new spaces in which to create. “A lot of condo developments are taking over buildings that were occupied by artists,” she says.

Sara’s sister, Lia, an architect, proposed a solution in a far more stable location. Their father lives in a historic Victorian townhouse in Chinatown that had a two-car concrete parking pad in the backyard, accessed by a rear laneway. Lia envisioned building a suite where Sara could make and display art, rest, and have friends over.

With a footprint measuring just 17.5 feet by 20 feet, the space gave Lia little to work with. So she designed a split-level unit that the duo call their “art bunker.” It has four distinct zones, with ceiling heights ranging from 7 to 12 feet and an impressive 620 square feet of living space.

Sara does most of her painting in the basement, which offers a surprising sense of lightness. Here, double glass doors with a transom window frame a sunken courtyard planted with native species like periwinkle, red dogwood, and a ground-covering fern. There’s also a kitchen on the lower level.

The main floor provides a place for Sara to showcase her work. “Having a gallery space is a useful way to look at a piece and see how it exists outside the studio and if it’s resolved,” she says. Industrial Dutch doors lead to a small backyard, which serves as an extension of the gallery when groups gather. (The sisters envision hosting poetry readings and small concerts here in the future.)

On the upper levels of the studio are a compact bathroom with a shower and a bedroom with a double-height ceiling. The top floor holds a retreat and tearoom (Sara is also a ceramicist and makes teacups, which she uses and displays here) with a small balcony that may one day hold an herb garden.

Like Sara’s artwork, the project nods to the sisters’ Chinese heritage and the surrounding neighborhood. In the basement, there’s a large painting of a cabbage, a symbol of wealth. Outside, hanging above the main entrance, there’s an octagonal feng shui bagua. “The mirror in the middle reflects away evil spirits,” Lia explains.

The sisters think of the building as “ugly/beautiful”—it has an industrial exterior with metal doors and a concrete block facade, which blends in with neighboring garages. But the interior is a cozy, welcoming space. “The design is like the resident, because it’s reserved and closed on the exterior, but it’s warm and expressive on the interior,” says Lia.

Project Credits:

Architect of Record: Lia Maston, Firma Architecture

Builder: Kyle Cloutier, True Living Concepts

Structural Engineering: Marek Gabris, Gabris Associates

Mechanical Engineering: Adrian Kasjak

Mechanical Services: Jack Chiu

Sheet Metal: Myron Corporation

Masonry: Manuel Meira

Drywall & Venetian Plaster: Murillo Silva and Domenico Marchesini

Interior Design: Karissa Carcano

Millwork: Mikal Maston

Landscape Design: Cardy Lai

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