By Farzad Esnaashari, M.Arch, BCIN, Quadrant Architects
Most of Toronto’s older residential streets were built in the same era and the same few styles: post-war bungalows, brick two-storeys, the occasional Tudor. Then someone tears one down to build something modern, and the neighbours start paying attention. Done badly, the new house looks out of place. Done well, it fits right in.
We designed a contemporary custom home on Woodmount Avenue in East York, on a street of older brick houses. Here is how you build modern on an established street without the result fighting its surroundings.
Yes, and in most of Toronto you can do it as-of-right, without a rezoning. What you cannot do is ignore the street. Established neighbourhoods have a rhythm: a consistent height, a consistent distance from the sidewalk, a consistent spacing between houses. A modern home can look nothing like its neighbours and still respect that rhythm. That is the difference between a new house that fits and one the whole block resents.
Not style. The thing that matters most is height. If the houses on either side are two storeys, a modern home that matches their roofline fits the street no matter how contemporary the rest of it is. A home that towers over its neighbours never fits.
After height comes the setback. Established streets have a consistent front-yard depth, and holding that same line keeps the new home in step with its neighbours instead of jutting forward or sitting too far back. Then there is the overall size and shape of the house. A modern home that stays close to the proportions of the houses around it sits comfortably on the street, even with the flat roof and large windows they do not have. You can see how this came together on our East York custom home on Woodmount Avenue, where a clearly modern house keeps the height and setback of a street of older brick homes.
This is where a modern home earns its place. A front of nothing but white render and glass can feel cold next to brick neighbours. On the Woodmount house, the white stucco is paired with a warm wood-grain ACM volume and a dark brick base. ACM is an aluminum panel with a wood-grain finish, so you get the warmth of timber with the durability and clean lines of a modern material. The brick connects to the masonry houses around it, the panel adds warmth, and the house looks modern without looking out of place. A modern home does not have to reject the materials of its neighbourhood. It can use its own versions of them.
Most older Toronto lots are narrow and deep, which leaves the middle of the house dark unless you plan for light from the start. Two moves do most of the work. An open staircase with glass railings lets daylight travel between floors instead of hitting solid walls, so light from the upper windows reaches the centre of the house. And a large run of rear windows feeding an open main floor pulls light from the back of the house toward the front. On a narrow lot, an open plan is not just a look. It is how you keep the inside from feeling like a tunnel.
The deep lots that come with older Toronto neighbourhoods are an asset most new builds waste. A walkout lower level uses the slope at the rear to bring full-height windows and a real connection to the backyard into a space that is usually dark and buried. Paired with a rear deck, it turns the lowest floor into bright, usable living space and opens the home onto the yard.
It is also where flexibility comes from. A walkout lower level can be a family room, a space for an in-law or an adult child, or a future rental, which matters in neighbourhoods where families plan to stay for decades.
Quadrant Architects designs modern custom homes across East York, the Danforth, Leaside, Riverdale, the Beaches, and the broader east end of Toronto. We design contemporary homes that fit their streets, keeping the height, setback, and character of established neighbourhoods while bringing in the light, openness, and modern living that older houses cannot offer. Related services: custom home architect · residential architect services · interior design.
Farzad Esnaashari, M.Arch, BCIN, Quadrant Architects. 416-835-0053 · farzad@quadrantarchitects.com