Toronto-based architectural practice, rzlbd, has designed the Lady Peel House project. Completed in 2012, the three-storey contemporary single-family home is located in Toronto, Canada.
The birthplace of world-celebrated star, Beatrice Lillie better known as Lady Peel, of English musical comedy, is over a century old.
According to the architect: “Located in downtown Toronto, the home has now been renovated and given a new lease of life. With respect for the actress who once lived there, the house inherits a talent: playing a new role while living in the same skin.
“The renovation of the house takes a responsible approach towards the neighbourhood and the adjacent buildings by focusing the transformation on the interior spaces and minimising it on the exterior façade. The exterior alterations were limited to the careful enlargement of the windows and the exposure of the brick structure underneath the previous cladding.
“The 60’ x 15’ house gave the architect an opportunity to emphasise on linearity of spaces. By eliminating the unnecessary elements in the floor plans, the house was transformed into a continuous open-concept space in which natural light makes a soft voyage and exaggerates the length of the rooms.
“The long, broken, and dark Victorian interior spaces on the ground level are now contemporary white and airy continuous spaces with just enough exposed brick wall in the kitchen and dining room to remind us of the origins of the house. The enclosed long and linear staircase used to be both a physical and a visual barrier between the interior design on the ground level. Now it’s transformed into a light, and open structure circulating around voids and creating a connection between the ground floor spaces, but also all the levels.
On the second floor the bedrooms and the home office are connected with a bridge overlooking the stairs and the dining room. A unique modern master bedroom with a freestanding tub and a direct access to a private deck is on the third floor, the attic, where the roof structure is exposed once again as a reminder of its past.”
Images courtesy of borXu Design
