Architects rejig a substandard Colonial
Renovation of a Hoggs Hollow, Toronto home by Superkul Architect.Bob Gundu
Toronto’s Superkul architecture firm installed large glass doors as they renovated what used to be a staid Colonial-style 1960s house. The project, says Superkul’s architect Andre D’Elia, was quite modest: To improve on a building that “wasn’t being used very well,” and make new connections to the landscape.Bob Gundu
Kitchen cabinets have been replaced with a Poggenpohl system. Floors of white oak extend through the dining area and living room, and two pieces of custom cabinetry – beautifully made of white oak by the mill workers KGA – provide discreet storage and texture.Bob Gundu
The architects demolished some interior walls to make this area entirely open, and then added two large floor-to-ceiling window openings and doors. This is where you can get a good look at the yard, a rock garden created by a previous owner and the rugged hillside beyond.Bob Gundu
Most of the interior has been rearranged – a complex task, accomplished neatly by the builder Derek Nicholson. This is especially true upstairs. There were three bedrooms and a bathroom, and they all remain, but there is also a large walk-in closet and a second bathroom.Bob Gundu
The main hallway is now opened up to the roof line – making for a six-foot-wide grand corridor with a couple of skylights.Bob Gundu
The house’s master bedroom was located on the main floor. Now that room has been converted into a home office, with more custom cabinetry in white oak.Bob Gundu
‘Sometimes you get quirky spaces,’ says architect Andre D’Elia, ‘and they’re spaces you wouldn’t deliberately design. But you work with them and you can give them an interesting twist.’Bob Gundu
The wine cellar in the basement – the husband of the house is a “reasonably serious” wine hobbyist, and his cellar got some handsome cabinetry to match the rest of the house.Bob Gundu
Across the backyard, and past the kidney-shaped pool, is the hill: A rocky ridge juts upward to the sky, studded with the craggy roots and powerful trunks of some very old trees. It’s a tremendous sight, even in winter, and one couple in the North York neighbourhood of Hoggs Hollow sees it from their back windows every day.Bob Gundu