On our annual “visit a new city tour”, Tracey and I drove up to Toronto Canada to explore a relatively new city of only 175 years. Our trip started early on Aug 15 with a departure from Providence taking us about 12 hours to reach our destination (including stops, traffic and a dinner caused be a severe traffic jam on the QEW in Ontario). We arrived late at our hotel in downtown Toronto and sat down to a few pints of Canadian ale. Our Sunday walking effort was challenged by record high heat and humidity, nevertheless we navigated through the city and found our way while drinking plenty of water. The heat continued on Monday as we found ourselves back in the car to explore west and east suburbs of the city and get a sense of living styles in the surrounding area. Tuesday night we walked 2 blocks from our hotel to Rogers Centre to watch the Red Sox defeat the Blue Jays 10-9. We were impressed by the stadium and it’s amenities, grand concourse and retractable roof all of which made the game more spectator friendly. Also noted by our new friend Saba (a long time Jays fan) that it is an “old stadium and not to be confused with a ballpark like Fenway”. Toronto is loaded with new architecture by Will Alsop, Gehry, Morphosis, Libeskind, Mies, Calatrava and many others. Some of the building noted in the photographs include:

The Sharp Centre for Design, Ontario College of Art and Design, Alsop Architects, 2004
Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO), Gehry Partners, 2008
University of Toronto Graduate Housing, Morphosis Architects, 2000
BCE Place Allen Lambert Galleria, Santiago Calatrava, 1992
Royal Ontario Museum (ROM), Studio Daniel Libeskind, 2007
Toronto Dominion Centre (TD Centre), Mies Van Der Rohe, 1967

Wednesday we left Toronto and made a stop to visit our friend Doug who recently moved to Niagara Falls and visit the Falls (my first time). Needless to say the Falls are breathtaking and a very unique natural wonder that can not be fully captured with photographs, so I also shoot some HD video to get a better representation of the sites and sounds of the Falls. As a five day trip we covered many miles and saw many interesting things, enjoyed great food, friendly people, and became acquainted with a new city. We haven’t determined our destination for next year but I’m certain Toronto will remain on our top 5 city list for a long time to come. I hope you enjoy the photographs which can be seen as a full screen slide show and please leave your comments!

Location| Scituate, RI
Type| additions and alterations
Area| 1,000 sf
Association| SPM Design

Status| unbuilt

This project is about adding functionality to an existing post war gambrel roof two story dutch colonial. The owners are requesting various upgrades primarily focused on a new kitchen, master bedroom suite and piano room. The house is in good sound condition and has not been upgraded since its construction.

One objective is to transform the appearance of the house due to the solidity of the gambrel roof form. By adding a new front porch and upper story dormers the house begins to look more rural and appropriate for its 3 acre site. The kitchen was originally built as a bonus room on the left side of the house, ideally the owner would like to connect the kitchen to the garage for direct interior access and add a mudroom. The new kitchen area will also include a dining area, butler’s pantry and outdoor area under the new porch. A new addition will be added to the right side of the house in the form of a unique eight sided piano room with windows on each side, creating a pavilion like setting with the outdoors. A third addition is at the back of the house for the master bedroom suite.

The project is currently in a very initial feasibility phase in order to set a construction budget and determine the project scope. The owners are interested in maximizing off-grid energy sources and are considering alternative GREEN technologies.

UPDATE: The Owner has changed their mind and is now looking to sell the property on account of construction cost vs. property value.

design review