Warming up to Modern Architecture

摘要

The cottage needed to be torn down, but the neighborhood needed the cottage. Dilapidated as it was, the 1870s cottage was an essential element on Amelia Street. So I worked with it. I still had to tear down most of it, but I rebuilt the cottage with the original form and footprint in mind. The cottage became my studio and office, and I added a three-story home behind it. My plan presented two challenges. The first was to find ways to blend the traditional form of the cottage with the new modern house. Combining traditional patterns with modern materials was the answer. The form of the renovated cottage retains a connection to the neighborhood, and modern materials integrate it with the new house behind. The second challenge was to create a home and an office that were separate yet congruent spaces. The cottage was reconfigured into a large studio on one side and an office and washroom on the other (floor plan, p. 76). A series of openings and sliding oak doors give consistency to all the rooms and establish a rhythm that leads to the kitchen and courtyard, the link between my office and my home. The sound of falling water from a courtyard fountain muffles outside noise and provides sound separation between home and office.