Dramatic Expression

Redefining the conventional century-old mansions in Toronto’s most notable historic neighbourhood, Batay-Csorba Architects creates a creative space that invokes imagination and drama.

- Martin Teo

The Double Duplex was created in response to the cities growing need for alternative housing models due to the rising cost of urban real estate and the need for urban densification within Toronto’s established residential neighbourhoods. A proliferation of high and mid-rise condominiums have been making the urban core even more dense and serve as the predominant model for entry level home ownership within the city.

However, very few new low-rise infill models of densification or affordable living within Toronto’s sought after historic residential neighbourhoods have been developed.

The Double Duplex infill project is located on Melbourne Avenue in Parkdale, one of Toronto’s most notable historic neighbourhoods for their century old Victorian and Bay and Gable mansions. The existing double wide site was severed into two separate properties with a four storey 3,500 square foot detached duplex residence being constructed on each site, allowing property owners to either rent out one of the units to subsidise their own income or to use it as a live work space.

Many of the 19th Century mansions, often later converted to rooming houses still exist and are being converted back into single-family homes. The unique Parkdale neighbourhood now finds itself home to a large burgeoning artist community akin to the Tribeca homes in Manhattan, New York.

CULTURAL CONTEXT

Double Duplex pays tribute to the existing context and the beauty of its craft and local artistry by making contextual relationships through massing and geometry along with texture and detail of paramount concern.