Page 21 - DR•I 4.7

Text description provided by the architects.
A town house ready for the next century. The façade keeps its historical function and bourgeois radiance, neatly in line. The contrast with the rear is ample. All incorrect additions are replaced by a unit of space and light. Daylight and contact with the garden are introduced. The simple, contemporary glass rear has the world’s largest pivoting window – 3 meters wide by 6 meters high – and makes this house ready for the future.
Renovation old Bourgeois town house. Bell etage, so no connection on the same level with the garden.
Clients wanted to have that connection and a more modern approach in connection with the old details. We broke down the rear part of the building to make this connection on the same level, and give the house a nice view to the garden from the different floors. We wanted to make also a connection with the different floors. This happened wit a triplex in the new built rear extension.
Materials new extension. Polished concrete inside and the outside terrace on the same level. Walls: masonry with painted. Windowprofiles: ODS Jansen Ixtra lasercut and tailormade with insulated glass from Saint Gobain. (glass 1.5 ton each slab). Each window (with frame) 2 tons. Dimensions: 3x6m and 6x3m above. Concept window: same form: T shaped as an old standard window. Kitchen: table tops also in concrete. The island is movebla to the terrace. The ideal bbq house. In the old front part we renovated the existing floors and architectural details. The new bathrooms are in the old style with modern approach. But we kept the old lavabo’s that were available in the house.
The new bathrooms are in between the two big bedrooms with double doors ‘en enfilade’ (a classical term for doors of different rooms on one view axe). So we didn’t do a lot; but what we did has giant repercussions to the way of living in that house.
This is what is truly known as a Tour de Force! Frankly I cannot understand why one would want to invest the kind of money it must have taken to design/specify two such huge doors. Spectacular result, no doubt......but. . . . . .
This is the home of Barton Myers, Architect. Although American by birth he lived and worked in Toronto for many years. The firm, Diamond and Myers, was the architectural firm that all young design professionals hungered to work for back in 1968 and almost 20 years thereafter.