Barbora Vokac Taylor Architect (BVT A), performed a sensitive facelift for this urban residence, reimagined to support the lifestyle of a modern family.
“The home was located in the heart of a neighborhood that the clients absolutely loved, but the existing home didn’t reflect them or their lifestyle. The structure had long been stripped of its original character and charm, and it lacked an identity and any meaning for them,” says Barbora Vokac Taylor, founding architect of the firm bearing her name. “The interior was quite dark and partitioned, and it was unable to accommodate their modern lifestyle, which included the capacity to entertain friends, as well as an extended, multigenerational family.”
After purchasing the home, which had last been renovated in the 90s, the clients continued to live elsewhere as the renovation project unfolded. Initially begun pre-COVID, the home-bound nature of pandemic life offered an opportunity to reflect on how the family wanted to live, now and in the years to come. The result was a “future-proofed” refinement of the design that tailored the home to the long-term vision of the clients and their lifestyle.
“Every decision was based on fresh new ways to occupy spaces conducive to gathering the generational mix of their extended family,” Vokac Taylor adds. “As we learned more about the nature of their family and their personalities, we were able to propose design elements that would make the home uniquely theirs.”
The vision for the interior design began to unfold with a series of strategies, including a focus on “perches”: small gathering spaces within the home where different groups within the multi-generational family could comfortably convene within the open plan.
“We looked at what we refer to as ‘patterns of the everyday’, and we took note of the activities that the clients do and wanted to be able to do,” notes Vokac Taylor. “We were then able to develop adjacencies and compatibilities, and to create flow between the spaces.”
The existing layout positioned the living room at the front of the house, and the dining area at the back. BVT A swapped that layout and moved the dining area to the front of the house, where it seemed more compatible with the public nature of the street-facing elevation and the character of the overall structure. As one approaches the home from the entry path, a large floor-to-ceiling bay window frames the dining room as a vignette, a welcoming invitation to join the gathering.
To maximize space, BVT A installed a custom walnut banquette along one side of the dining room, with Douglas Fir window frames, walnut millwork, and white oak flooring infused to create a warm and inviting atmosphere. Contemporary furnishings were added, while an existing wood-burning masonry fireplace and chimney were preserved.
The living room is immediately adjacent to the mudroom at the front of the house, and BVT A used millwork and framed views to strategically separate the spaces and create an intentional disconnection, but with each room retaining a sense of the space beyond it. In the center of the house, the kitchen was relocated to become the new “hearth” of the home: a central connector between the dining and living room spaces, flowing seamlessly from one to the next to accommodate overlapping activities.
“It was critical to keep visual connections between the spaces, but also to define physical separations,” explains Ms. Vokac Taylor. “Having a sense of the spaces beyond expands the feeling of compact rooms and avoids the feeling of spatial confinement that can be common in the narrower lots of the city.”
That strategic element was also applied to the rear of the house, where a lift-and-slide door was installed to extend the living room onto the back patio. Doing so allows for the entertainment space to expand to more than double when desired, with the outdoor patio equipped for BBQ grilling and comfortable, casual entertaining.
“The vision was to design the spaces to spill out and over into one another, and to use layered elements to define the spaces without completely disconnecting them,” stresses Vokac Taylor. “The resulting layout enables a sense of privacy for the children, but without foregoing a sense of connection…and supervision…at least in their younger years.”
The second level also houses the children’s bedrooms, each designed around the characters of the brother and sister. Faced with the legacy constraints of compact urban bedrooms, BVT A was able to maximize space by designing custom millwork “studiolos” that combine several functions in one; a desk, a nightstand, a bookcase, and a headboard all in one.
Working closely with landscape architect Saraga Taylor Landscape Architects (STLA), BVT A also created a front walkway that integrates with the landscape design to provide both privacy and noise reduction from the active-facing street. The firm further rethought the presentation of the home by reproportioning the large bay window and dormer at the front of the house. STLA also advised on selections of indoor plants to bring more of the outside in.
“This project embodies our practice’s philosophy and approach: a thoughtful reading of the site/structure, and a purposeful strategy and approach that is further refined and shaped through a collaborative design process with the client,” concludes Barbora Vokac Taylor. “We’ve created a home that meaningfully aligns with both the aesthetic and functional needs of a modern family, with some beautiful moments to come that will ensure its relevance for many years.”
Photography by Doublespace Photography.
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