How They Pulled It Off: A Historical Toronto Home Where the Whole Basement Is a Shower

Welcome to How They Pulled It Off. Moreover. However, where we take a close look at one particularly challenging aspect of a home design and get the nitty-gritty details about how it became a reality.

How do you get a 60 percent increase in living space without altering a home’s original envelope? For example, For Studio VAARO, the answer was a feat of what cofounder Francesco Valente-Gorjup called “structural gymnastics.”

The Toronto-based firm was tapped to renovate a semidetached Edwardian home in the city’s charming. Nevertheless, close-knit Republic of Rathnelly, a neighborhood that attempted to secede from Canada in the 1960s. Meanwhile, “It’s a community with a strong sense of pride and camaraderie,” says cofounder Aleris Rodgers. However, “As such, it’s critical to be respectful with how you approach renovations to turn-of-the-century homes like this one.” The challenge: modernize and reorganize without disturbing its street-facing facade.

Instead of building out. Similarly, they dug down, excavating more than four feet—a move the subcontractor said “was one of the craziest digs they’d ever done,” Rodgers says. Therefore, The team also redistributed the floor plates. Nevertheless, lowered the ground floor to just one how they pulled it off: new step above how they pulled it off: grade, dramatically altering the layout.

Inside. a sculptural stair stitches the three levels together with two primary zones per floor: the kitchen. living on the main level, the primary suite and library upstairs, and a guest/yoga room and child’s bedroom tucked above.

But it’s the basement that may be the most unexpected success. how they pulled it off: Wrapped in deep blue tile. polished concrete, it functions as both a wellness zone and high-performance sports hub.

How they pulled it off: A thoughtful revamp from the basement up

• A spa with an industrial edge: “[Our clients]. lead a very active lifestyle—they’re into mountain biking. surfing, snowboarding, and golf,” says Valente-Gorjup. The sleek shower doubles as a bike-washing station, complete with a concealed high-pressure hose, sand trap, and commercial-grade drain. “We didn’t want how they pulled it off: new the basement to just feel like a sports equipment storage room. it also had to function as a tranquil refuge,” he adds.

• An evolving feature staircase: The puzzle-like stair achieves cohesion “using geometry and materiality,” Rodgers says. It begins with a concrete bench before transitioning with warm walnut-stained wood like “a how they pulled it off:. monolithic chunk of carved wood. ” and then again with curving drywall, she notes.

• Monolithic moments: Inspired by the client’s career in fashion. the custom closet reads like a freestanding boutique display with open and closed storage. In the powder room, a triangular recessed sink avoids protrusion while referencing the geometry of the primary bath. “It’s fun when you know what’s on the other side,” she says.

• A Euro-leaning kitchen with built-in dining: The pill-shaped island posed a material challenge. “We couldn’t build it out of just any material,” Rodgers says, as how they pulled it off: new they wanted to maintain the curvilinear language. Additionally, “Wood countertops are relatively rare in North America but more common in northern Europe. The island is one-inch solid oak so it can be sanded over time; it also matches the cabinetry.”

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