Standing beside the newly poured concrete lap pool with my back to the spreading city parcelled in grids below, I don't need to squint at David Daniels's new home to see it. Clearly, it is a mini-Maple Leaf Gardens.
Built in 1935 on a promontory in the neighbourhood of South Hill, the 8,000-square-foot house was designed by Toronto architect Mackenzie Waters for major-general Donald M. Hogarth, an MPP who later became a mining executive.
Four years before, Mr. Waters had worked as associate architect with the Montreal firm of Ross & Macdonald on the much-beloved hockey shrine, and it's obvious that he took something away from that experience.
Pointing to the restrained but rhythmic facade and buff brick banding that smacks of its cousin on Carlton Street, Mr. Daniels remarks: "I call this whole project 'The echo of deco.'"
"Is that 'echo' with an 'h'?" asks architect Paul Dowsett cheekily, referring to the extensive list of eco-friendly and sustainable technologies his firm, Scott Morris Architects, is incorporating into the renovation and expansion of this historic mansion.
There is a duality to the project. Firstly, Mr. Daniels's team — which, in addition to Mr. Dowsett, includes project manager Nick Egizii, landscape architect Ron Holbrook, interior designer Phillip Moody and Simon Boone of Generation Solar — will be restoring as many of the home's art deco features as possible. They include the domed foyer ceiling, the sweeping terrazzo staircase and the amazing sprung-floor ballroom in the basement.
"I'm fanatically devoted to Toronto and to preserving what we can of the housing stock," explains Mr. Daniels, a self-confessed heritage lover. Reconsidering, he corrects himself: "Preserving is not the right word because this is not a preservation, this is a reimagining of something but trying to respect as much of what the original building has to offer."
Since the home's deco features seem to stop somewhere past the foyer (perhaps because the original owner got a case of cold feet), Mr. Daniels is "reimagining" what might have been and installing deco trim, moulding and other finishes throughout.
Secondly, as many sustainable features as eco-expert Mr. Dowsett can dream up are being incorporated into the home, which currently sits stripped down to the studs on the inside and, on the outside, is shamelessly flashing its raw steel skeleton at the next door neighbours to the east.
As we walk the perimeter on a sunny November Sunday, most obvious are the new double-glazed, low-E aluminum windows with their accompanying shades, designed to prevent overheating interiors in summer yet allow light from the low-flying winter sun to enter unimpeded.
On the inside, "light shelves" will reflect the sun's rays onto the ceiling, Mr. Dowsett says, so that natural light will penetrate as far into the house as possible, reducing the need to turn on electric lights.
Mr. Daniels adds: "What I like about this [technology] is that it's completely low-tech — it's just a matter of doing your calculations."
Rather than sending the old, inefficient single-pane windows to landfill, they'll be given a new life as interior design elements in the form of cabinet or closet doors.
"If we can recycle it … we'll reuse it on this site; if we can reuse it on a neighbour's property, we'll do that," Mr. Dowsett explains, pointing to the pool house, which is being framed with wood salvaged from the demolition of the original third floor.
And speaking of the third floor, where there was once an inset, mansard-roofed servant's quarters, there now sits a sparkling new Miesian triple-glazed box that will eventually be surrounded by a green roof.
The third floor has a "high albedo" roof: Highly reflective white paint deflects sunlight and reduces the need for cooling in summer.
