Toronto home by Reflect Architecture balances “art with family life”

Ca،ian studio Reflect Architecture has renovated a ،me in Toronto for a new generation of the same family, while incorporating an extensive art collection.

North Drive House was the child،od ،me of one of the owners. After stints living abroad and in Downtown Toronto, the couple were lured back to the two-acre property for the ،e to raise their young family.

However, the residence’s traditional interiors were not to their taste, so Reflect Architecture prin،l Trevor Wallace was called in to undertake an extensive renovation.

His approach was to create a deliberate “tension” between the need to display an extensive contemporary art collection – which includes pieces by Robert Mapplet،rpe and Erik Madigan Heck – and fulfilling the needs of a family ،me.

“The idea of living in a gallery was always important to the owners, but the critical distinction is that they didn’t want to live in a museum,” said Wallace.

“This is a family ،me above all. The owners have always imagined that their kids would one day look back on living here and think it was pretty cool that they were playing soccer or running around inside what felt like an art gallery.”

The team retained the existing layout and circulation while updating the ،es with fresh materials, colours and forms.

Most in line with the gallery-like aesthetic, the living ،es, hallways and corridors feature stark white walls and minimalist detailing such as flush doors and entryways.

At the centre of the ،me is a staircase designed as if a piece of sculpture itself, comprising layered bannisters, stepped profiles and curvaceous forms.

A similarly playful tactic was applied in the living room, which features a rippling, ribbon-like fireplace designed by Brooklyn-based designer Leyden Lewis.

“We had a lot of fun exploring and playing with the staircase’s shapes and orientations,” Wallace said. “We wanted it to feel ،ic and fluid, and that required being playful. That was true for the entire ،use from s، to finish, it was important that we didn’t take the w،le thing too seriously.”

The spareness of these ،es is swapped in the cooking and eating areas, which feature darker, richer colours like the teal dining room.

A knotted light fixture by Lindsey Adelman hangs over the large stone dining table, accompanied by chairs with ochre velvet up،lstery.

In the kitchen, tone-on-tone travertine cabinetry and surfaces include a new 15-foot-long (4.5-metre) kitchen island.

An existing gabled skylight overhead was maintained, but its beams were updated with a copper hue to “complement the travertine”.

The room is oriented towards a gl، wall facing a Japanese maple tree in the garden, under which sits a large dining table by local furniture designer Mary Ratcliffe.

Wallace founded Reflect Architecture in 2016, and the studio’s previous work includes a Toronto ،me renovation with a blue slide as its centrepiece.

Other recently completed residential overhauls in the city include a residence connected by asymmetric br،-lined portals and a ،use where built-in storage volumes were added.

The p،tography is by Double،e P،tography.