Set on the site of an old steel store, this contemporary home in Toronto, Ontario, is a sudden escape from the hustle and bustle of the city. Although the home is on a crowded semi-industrial stretch of road, its layout creates a buffer from the exterior sound. Honoring the steel store’s heritage, Valentina Nedelcu and her spouse, Steven Bugler, kept the first store at the back of the site and crafted a new home clad in Cor-Ten steel, one of the store owner’s treasured substances. The couple worked with Setless Studio to design a simple and iconic architecture that still paid tribute to its industrial roots. Bugler, a gifted millworker and the proprietor of Radiant City Millwork, custom built all of their house’s beautifully crafted wood fittings.
at a Glance
Location: Dupont West neighborhood of Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Size: 1,600 square feet; 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms
That is interesting: A large portion of the home substances were fabricated by Bugler in the first old steel store at the back of the house.
Andrew Snow Photography
A white walnut slatted staircase cuts through the ground floor, creating a partial divide between the kitchen and the living area. Although there are floor-to-ceiling windows at the ends of the home and an open floor plan, the ground floor still has intimate corners in which to unwind. The reddish Saarinen Womb Chair is Nedelcu’s treasured piece of furniture — it is where she spends a lot of winter curled up studying.
Womb Chair: Knoll; side-by-side: LC1, Cassina
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The home has a limited material palette, so the focus is on texture and detailing. Almost all of the built-in millwork is crafted from walnut using a intricate grain pattern. The millwork inside this shot hides columns, ducts, wine storage and even the entrance door. 1 section of open storage provides a focal point for the living area, holding portion of Nedelcu’s extensive book collection and other curated items.
Lounge: Barcelona Chair, Knoll
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The eclectic blend of furnishings runs the gamut from midcentury design classics to Ikea. Each piece was bought because Nedelcu loved the layout; she was not necessarily thinking about the area it might end up in. Even so, a cohesive theme emerges: Mostly black and white pieces are offset by pops of red and chrome.
Chaise: LC4, Cassina
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Bisecting the home, the stairwell acts as a light box to the floor, pulling sun into the middle of a very long floor plan. The central stair gets entry to the top rooms much easier than in most other Toronto homes, and it optimizes the house’s small footprint.
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The stair draws light in out of a large west-facing window and skylight. Over the course of the afternoon, the play of shadows across the walls and floors is mesmerizing.
Andrew Snow Photography
The second-floor bedroom faces the old steel store and an alleyway. The place gives it some solitude whilst still adding the floor-to-ceiling windows found throughout the home. Every one of the rooms on this floor feel intensely taken out of the road, as the gorgeous sapele-framed windows are filled with all the heavens of Toronto’s changing seasons. Nedelcu enjoys the contact using the skies and the sensation of isolation it brings, in this traffic-heavy part of the city.
Armchair: Poang, Ikea; bed: Malm, Ikea
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Different endings from the remainder of the home assist the bathroom feel like its own escape. Carrara marble walls have been paired with a teak dressing table and flooring to get a spalike appearance. Part of the floor has open gaps between the slats, with the shower drain concealed beneath. This creates a visually seamless appearance and enables the freestanding bathtub for a focal point.
Andrew Snow Photography
Bugler specializes in doors and windows, so that he made sure the few doors in the home are showstoppers. These doors stretch from floor to ceiling and are made from pine with an inset pine casing. They are satisfyingly heavy and feel engineered to perfection.
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Nedelcu’s favourite room in the house is the library. Walnut shelving holds most of her big literature set, including many engineering textbooks. A view of the trees out gives the space a relaxing texture. “You pull the curtains and green fills the space,” Nedelcu states. The Stickley-style chair features many striking woodworking joints and was custom made by Bugler in his store.
Andrew Snow Photography
The slats at the stairway become a abstract canvas when viewed from above. Since the slats overlap differently in various angles, the staircase takes on a shifting, dynamic quality.
Andrew Snow Photography
Due to a hectic work schedule, Nedelcu opted against a formal dining area, preferring the quick and casual character of bar seating. This decision enabled the architect to allot more room to the kitchen and living spaces. Meanwhile, front courtyard is just steps away and functions as an exterior dining area during the warm Toronto summers.
Andrew Snow Photography
In the kitchen, walnut is combined with Baltic birch countertops and the exact same Carrara marble as in the bathroom to make a highly textured but completely modern palette.
Andrew Snow Photography
The beautifully engineered doors slide open to bring light and air during the entire house. Milled from sapele wood to withstand the elements, they had been manufactured just 1 block away at Bugler’s millworking store.
Andrew Snow Photography
To optimize privacy and minimize auto sound, the architect pushed the home back as much as he could on the narrow bunch. This allowed for a little courtyard that acts as a buffer between the visitors and the home. The trees cut down on sound suprisingly well, giving a green oasis in the center of the city.
Andrew Snow Photography
Since the front of the building is obscured by the courtyard, the Cor-Ten-covered side acts as the visual front of the home. Visible from the road, the side elevation is an ideal reminder of the craft past and present that went into creating this home the achievement it’s.
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