The Adams Fleming House by Levitt Goodman Architects
Levitt Goodman Architects have designed the Adams Fleming House in Toronto, Canada.
Full description after the photos….
Photography by Ben Rahn/A-Frame
The Adams Fleming House by Levitt Goodman Architects
On a street of historic, working-class cottages in Toronto’s west end, adjacent to a railway line and a supermarket parking lot, a vacant auto-body shop may have seemed like an unlikely impetus for a residence with a domestic character. The clients—Debbie Adams, a graphic designer, and Peter Fleming, a furniture designer/craftsman—had a limited budget but considerable talent and resources. Working with Levitt Goodman Architects, the project became a laboratory for artistic collaboration and experimentation. Over several years they have transformed the industrial site into an artful urban oasis.
An introverted plan strategically shuts out the auditory and visual noise of the city and gives Peter and Debbie the opportunity to enjoy the quiet fugue of their home and their fine collections of modernist furniture and contemporary art. The private areas of the house are nestled into one corner, with the kitchen, dining and living rooms forming an “L” around them. These are bathed in sunlight and feature panoramic views of the gardens through oversized windows that were once the garage doors. The bedrooms and bathrooms are raised on a platform, creating domestic ceiling heights as well as much-needed storage underneath. A second storey was added with a large open studio space for work and musical jam sessions (Debbie and Peter play bluegrass strings). The roof is prepped for a future roof garden that will create the impression that the house is fl oating in a field while also tempering the temperature and air quality of the house.
Much charm comes from the elements that illustrate the house’s rich collaborative spirit. For example, Levitt Goodman composed a wall around the living room fireplace with panels of steel found on the site; Peter then rusted and waxed them to a red, velvety appearance. Levitt Goodman designed an ensuite bathroom in which Peter created an unusually shaped concrete tub, custom-fitted to Debbie’s proportions. The garden is a successful mismatch of styles, including an outdoor dining room, a fountain plunge pool, a vegetable garden, a French-style orchard, as well as beds of native plants and grasses. Amid such dense planting, one can barely see the Goodwill donation trailer that sits in the supermarket parking lot just over the garden wall.
The project not only cleaned up a brown field site and infused a richly-planted garden, it also incorporated energy-efficient systems that were rare when the project began. These include radiant floor heating, on demand hot water, plenty of large, functional windows, skylights and “Sun Tunnels” that bring natural light into the heart of the house where there are no external windows.
The fluid collaboration of experts on this project has resulted in a house that exudes originality and extraordinary craftsmanship. A clear celebration of art is merged with an ecological emphasis, transforming industrial debris into a domestic sanctum with an artistic and rural sensibility.
Location: 80 Ritchie Avenue, Toronto, Canada
Size: 2,000 s.f.
Completion: September 2008
Photography credit: Ben Rahn / A-Frame
Architectural Project Team:
Janna Levitt, Partner-in-Charge
Samantha Scroggie, Project Architect
Visit the website of Levitt Goodman Architects – here.
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Matthew Daby on 12 Nov 2009 at 1:33 pm #
Love it! Modern and comfortable looking. Well detailed without being pretentious. Looks easy to live in.
graham on 12 Nov 2009 at 3:24 pm #
Nice family home, obviously lived in and very comfortable.
I wonder if anyone has told them there is aghost of a boy also living there
AYT on 12 Nov 2009 at 11:25 pm #
Er, Graham, ghost or otherwise — I think that’s a girl. Her plait is distinctly visible. Either way, she’s one lucky entity to be living in this beautiful, cozy home.
hZ! on 13 Nov 2009 at 1:08 am #
Is that a fireplace in the middle of that wall with the wood-pile in the shelf? It appears to be the same fireplace that is in the bedroom. There are two problems with this. One is that the some people who love heat in the living room often love to sleep in cool fresh air under many blankets. And fireplaces/heaters should never be placed above floor level. We have to be able to warm our toes! As they are, the setup obviously suits the owners, but i wonder whether they plan ever to move.
long live a sense of humour in design.
That light in the stair well reminds me of the series of fluoros i wired in myself in the garage
Am i hallucinating or is that towel hanging on the shower side of that glass screen???? You might as well call it a giant flannel.
The bigger staircase-rail is parsimonious and has angles to dent leg-flesh with pain. The smaller one has a stupid design where there have existed for many decades useful ones in which the hand is saved from sliding across metal fittings.
There is a strange imbalance going on between wooden things that appear too thin, like the big stair rail and the dining table and the fireplace/woodpile wall, and those that are more generous, like the coffee table and some of the joinery, that makes me uncomfortable.
On the whole though this seems a house for normal middle class people who like light, have a sense of humour and are social. In view of some of the minimalist nightmares that exist it’s easy to appreciate this lived-in and liveable house.
Jane on 13 Nov 2009 at 1:11 am #
Particularly love the library with the two comfy-looking chairs – want to be there ghost or no ghost!
Bronson on 13 Nov 2009 at 2:58 am #
Absolutely amazing, simple, elegant & beautiful.
It’s minimalist, but not bare but looks like a fantastically comfortable space with a great selection of private and public spaces.
zachary on 13 Nov 2009 at 12:43 pm #
wow. somebody found a DWR catalog and went wild. i wish more architects would support local designers and craftspeople.
Heather on 16 Nov 2009 at 5:26 pm #
I want to sell them a different dining room light fixture. Pendant overload! (as per the 2nd picture).
Chris on 18 Nov 2009 at 10:12 am #
@ hZ! – as for the fireplace being off the ground level, I don’t think that’s a problem with this house, considering they have radiant floor heating, so the heat will be coming from the floor upwards anyways. And I really like the idea of having a fireplace in the bedroom too.
But overall, really like the design of the house, brings a nice warm feel with the incorporation of wood throughout (even in the small details such as a wood hand-rail to give a more humanizing feel to the railing)