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Project posted by Nonument

The Ice House

View 7 Photos
Location
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Year
2020
Structure
House (Single Residence)
Style
Rustic
View looking east from the entry foyer towards the open kitchen and living room.
View looking east from the entry foyer towards the open kitchen and living room.
The main corridor of the upper floor features a custom artwork by the architect Dom Cheng
The main corridor of the upper floor features a custom artwork by the architect Dom Cheng
View looking northeast on the upper floor. The entire east wall of the house is clad in a textured charcoal polished plaster to accentuate the existing wood structure.
View looking northeast on the upper floor. The entire east wall of the house is clad in a textured charcoal polished plaster to accentuate the existing wood structure.
Detail view of the white oak treads at the base of the feature stair as it gently touches down to meet the concrete floor.
Detail view of the white oak treads at the base of the feature stair as it gently touches down to meet the concrete floor.
Detail view of the feature stair. The solid white oak treads appear to float in succession - this illusion is reinforced by blending the stair structure with the charcoal backdrop.
Detail view of the feature stair. The solid white oak treads appear to float in succession - this illusion is reinforced by blending the stair structure with the charcoal backdrop.
Detail view of solid white oak treads.
Detail view of solid white oak treads.

Details

Square Feet
1500
Lot Size
5016
Bedrooms
3
Full Baths
2

Credits

From Nonument

Located in the heart of Toronto, the two-storey building served as a coach house/storage depot for the Lake Simcoe Ice Ltd. company that operated a “cash and carry” service during the late 1800s. The house had gone through numerous renovations that attempted to mask what the building was; this iteration strips away the layers of the exquisite corpse down to its bones and attempts to draw from them a new architectural language of concrete, wood, and steel.

The feature stair is the project’s unique centerpiece and is a pastiche of various canonical examples of stair design – from Alvar Aalto’s composition at Villa Mairea for its formal ingenuity to Jean Prouvé’s lacquered steel and oak “ladder” stair for its utilitarian clarity. This interplay between materials and tectonics is prevalent throughout as each design element works to reinterpret and reinforce the original building.