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These Intertwining Semis Might Be Toronto’s Greenest Homes

A trip to the dump inspired a local architecture firm to build green, gorgeously, and go on to earn a Platinum Plaques certification from Built Green Canada

By Tory Healy
Photography by Michael Peart

He laughs about it now but when Felix Leicher first moved to Toronto from Munich, he had quite a shock. The young architect was taking a load of garbage to a dump and found that everything was piled in one heap. “In Germany, we sort every little piece,” he says. “There might be 20 different containers and they watch you separate everything.” As he, the founding principal of baukultur/ca, went on to renovate homes, beginning in 2015, he became more aware that a lot of things – densification, design and sustainability – are not considered in standard building. He set out to do better.

Toronto Greenest Homes baulkultur/ca
It took all of five days to assemble the prefabricated panels (produced by Pinwheel Structures) onsite. Despite its modern appearance, the new building – two back-to-back semi-detached homes – fits on the same footprint as the former single family dwelling and, thanks to its shape and building materials, fits perfectly in the Greektown neighbourhood.

In 2017, Leicher bought a property in Greektown with a twofold goal: improve living conditions on the site with a pair of semi-detached infills backing onto each other – a rarity when side-by-side is the norm – and gently intensify the neighbourhood. The design process took all of three months but the permitting and planning took roughly a year because not only was this a new build but the unconventional design meant densification. “We were basically pioneers,” Leicher says, “There is maybe a handful of semis built this way because people continue to think inside the old bylaw.”

Toronto Greenest Homes
This view of the east facade shows how the two houses intertwine. A staggered and cinched entrance in one unit allows for an expanded, garden-facing living room in the other. Windows and doors by Golden Windows; landscaping by Greenhouse Landscaping.

To provide that front and back access, the houses – only 7.62 metres wide – entwine instead of butting up to one another. Achieving this meant crafting a common wall that meanders in and out, cinching and expanding zones in one to accommodate the other, and vice versa. With three bedrooms, outdoor access and flow maximized across all four levels in each home, there is more than enough room for two families to live comfortably. Sustainability comes with a fee; luckily though it’s a onetime cost with local benefits and savings down the road.

Toronto Greenest Homes baulkultur/ca
The interiors are open concept, bright and airy, as well as generous, considering the homes are only 7.62 metres wide. Screen railing fabricated by Stainless Dimensions; engineered oak flooring by Nadurra Wood; kitchen by Mooza Wood Arts.

To reduce construction time and debris, as well as the impact on the neighbourhood, the duplex’s components were built off-site and assembled on the lot in just five days. Doing it this way costs more ­– there’s the use of a warehouse, the crane to hoist the panels, and transportation fees – but the time and material savings are significant: with a standard build, which can take up to three months, inaccuracies are inevitable and materials are subject to the elements, resulting in excess waste and compromised quality.

Green Homes Toronto
Another look at the kitchen with its generous, Caesarstone-topped island. Faucet by Blanco; lighting from Casa Di Luce.

Once the house was built, the real value was added with made-to-last, low-maintenance materials, 80 per cent of which are Canadian, and most of which is hidden from view. For instance, the lumber is FSC certified, which is highly durable and economically viable, and the entire building is wrapped in a thick layer of insulation, most of it outside the framing, which keeps the structural elements at a constant temperature and safe from the elements. The windows are triple pane glass, which is twice as energy efficient as regular glass, and the wall assembly includes a vented rain screen which has a drying cavity on the exterior to prevent mold. A white roof membrane reflects the sun, preventing the home from becoming a heat island, while an energy recovery system creates a constant air exchange. “The system exhausts the stale air from the inside and at the same time recoups the energy in the air and cools or warms it before it gets in the house,” says Leicher.

Toronto Greenest Homes baukultur/ca
Even the finished basement is modern and sun-drenched. Built-in (quarter cut oak and super matte white laminate) by Mooza Wood Arts; light by Flos (from Robinson).

Unsurprisingly the two homes sold fast, for roughly $1.5 million each. No, they’re not cheap, but these are forever homes and there will be 60 per cent energy savings down the road. The project will be the first in Toronto, and only the third in Ontario, to be certified with the Platinum Plaques by Built Green Canada, a third-party certifier that looks at the buildings from a holistic standpoint. A well-deserved gold star, one Leicher does not take lightly. “I always want to do the best possible,” Leicher says, “and this house is the best it can possibly be within the limits that we have. Sustainability is now more doable, with the materials that are available in Canada, and the knowledge which we have, and if the trades are willing to learn, we can do it. So, when someone asks me ‘why do you do that?’ my answer is, ‘why do you not do it?’”

BAUKULTUR/CA


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