House 4 | Izen Architecture Inc.

A beautiful wall of wrap-around windows completely transformed House 4, blending indoors and out, while neutral shades and clean lines create a powerful sense of openness and space.
 
 
House 4 was once a post-war bungalow – charming, but too small for this growing family, who needed more space to accommodate their lifestyle. Izen executed a straightforward, stacked volume that adds significant visual interest, bright light and generous space for all family members. The resulting home feels bold and big, with a seamless sense of inside and out established through the wrap-around window wall.
 
 
Izen specified the largest windows possible to maximize the amount of natural light beaming through the space at all times of day. The result is a very impactful floor-to-ceiling and wall-to-wall treatment that wraps a corner to claim as much openness to the outdoors as possible. The door to the backyard moved to the side of the home in order to establish an uninterrupted sightline to the shimmering backyard pool. 
 
 
Clean lines and a neutral palette throughout instill ease and calm - black window frames recall the black cladding on the bottom volume and darker flooring through the ground floor, while white frames on the second story blend into the white stucco exterior. We established a perfect flow through the main floor to allow for multiple uses, enhancing the feeling of spaciousness, important for a busy, growing family.
 
 
Visual interest is created through a perforated metal mesh material on the staircase rather than a traditional handrail, adding an unexpected industrial feel and interesting pattern play when the light hits it. Sleek, matte white cabinetry in the kitchen visually recedes to lead the eye through to the back wall of oversized windows, while the space is warmed via maple built-in open shelving. Bold veining on porcelain panels adds movement to an otherwise neutral space. 
 
 

Status: Completed 2019

Location: Toronto, ON

Size: 2,500 sf

Type: Single-Family Home, Renovation

Team: Roxane Bejjany, Brenda Izen, Abida Banu

Photography: Scott Norsworthy https://scottnorsworthy.com/