In midtown Toronto, Studio VAARO reimagines an Edwardian semi-detached house as a spatially fluid, materially grounded home.
What began as a pragmatic brief — more space, higher ceilings, integrated storage — unfolds into a renovation that feels both expansive and intimate, a negotiation between openness and enclosure.
The ground floor is conceived as a sequence of zones, flowing yet distinct. Concrete, wood, stone, and plaster form a tactile language; curves and cuts guide sightlines, soften edges, and carve light into the interior. A cast-in-place floor anchors the composition, from which sculptural elements emerge: a rounded dining booth in oak millwork, a stair landing with integrated seating, a media console, a hearth.
Bespoke details articulate closeness: millwork that bends into built-in seating, doors cut to follow concrete steps, knobs stained to dissolve into cabinetry. Each intervention blurs function with form.
The stairwell becomes a narrative spine. At ground level, a solid guardrail rises from concrete; above, it dissolves into a curvaceous form that draws daylight deep into the plan. The second floor introduces moments of contrast: a forest-green library, a monumental freestanding wardrobe that doubles as sculpture, a bathroom where triangular and pill-shaped geometries overlap in quiet dialogue.
A rebuilt third floor transforms the attic into luminous bedrooms and a guest bath, while below, the basement evolves into a hybrid space — spa, lounge, storage. A deep-blue tiled shower doubles as a station for mountain bikes, extending the project’s play of precision and pragmatism.
Externally, restraint governs. The façade is restored, the roofline retained. A new dormer and balcony extend the upper levels; a porch, with built-in seating and storage, marks the threshold.
Rathnelly House expands by almost 60% in area yet maintains the balance of scale, proportion, and neighbourhood context. Its atmosphere is defined less by addition than by calibration: material continuity, softened geometries, and a seamless folding of new and old.
