Page 12 - Real Estate Now Sept-Oct 2022

Architectural Trends in New Homes

Merisa Gomez-Adams courtesy REALTOR.ca

esign trends come and go each year, and it’s always an exciting undertaking for interior designers to explore
the current and upcoming design themes for condos, townhouses and single-family homes. When we think
Dabout these trends, however, we often overlook architecture or building design and instead tend to focus on
fun, non-structural elements such as colours, materials, textures and accessories.
What’s interesting about this is the fact that architectural trends are a key consideration for both the government and
developers when it comes to constructing new homes.
“Guidelines are developed in collaboration with city staff, developers, planners, and architects,” says Melanie
Doytchinova of Kirkor Architects & Planners, based out of Toronto, Ontario, and Calgary, Alberta. “These guidelines
are essentially the new trends being set by the government with the intent to improve quality of life and provide a
better mix of housing types to support people at different stages in life.”
What’s clear is our modern lives significantly impact the design of our homes and the unique architectural trends and
designs we see emerging.

Eco-friendly homes
With an ongoing emphasis on climate change awareness and sustainability, designing and building with the
environment in mind remains a top priority for many builders and homeowners. Incorporating sustainable practices,
techniques and materials in new builds—as well as updating older buildings—has become the new standard.

Homeowners are looking for something adaptable, affordable, and sustainable. As well as being good for the
environment, eco-friendly designs often go hand-in-hand with long-term cost efficiency of our homes. Whether
it’s through the use of solar panels, recycled
house materials, water-efficient plumbing
fixtures, insulation and air tightness, or being
mindful of window and door selections for
energy reduction, it seems there’s a conscious
effort to support the planet. This effort is
reinforced by the range of government-
backed clean energy incentives and rebate
programs in operation across the country.

Curious about the relationship between
architecture and how we interact with the
place we live? Episode 27 of the REAL TIME
podcast features Canadian architect Todd
Saunders, who shares his perspective.

Minimized window-to-wall ratios
Specifically, in relation to windows, Doytchinova mentions large windows are a “trend we’ll be moving away from”
as there are guidelines related to sustainability minimizing window-to-wall ratios in order to make new construction
more energy efficient. “We’ll start seeing the trend of the ‘glass towers’ move more and more into solid wall construction
with punched-in windows,” she suggests.

Despite the aesthetic appeal of large windows and the uplifting psychological effect they have on us when natural

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