South House

The Lakeview neighbourhood in Mississauga is over 100 years old. Oral histories describe the incremental construction of houses throughout the decades, still evidenced by layers of add-ons concealed and integrated within the original structures. We aligned with this slow development and considered how the qualities of this early suburb can be preserved through the renovation and additions of a single-family home.

South House sidesteps the recent development approach and continues the trajectory set by the neighbourhood’s early incremental development while preserving one of its early residential structures.

The original six room main floor presented challenges with rooms that were quite small.  The interior walls were removed and reconfigured to provide a more spacious and adaptable floor plan through the use of movable walls, as well as rethinking conventional functions of rooms within the house. 

The addition clips onto the existing house while keeping the exterior walls intact. Windows and doors now interiorized are removed and become physical and visual access points to and from the addition.  The original wood board sheathing is exposed, adding a rich weathered texture to the maple floors and maple veneer plywood wall panels.

The integration of sustainable design begins with preserving the bungalow’s form, structure, and embodied energy, rather than demolishing as is happening frequently in the neighbourood. Originally built in 1920s, the addition extended the use of wood as a structural material for the house addition and the 100-year-old wood sheathing is exposed on the interior as a finish.

The placement of the wood member creates a conceptual tie between the existing and new house, and the rhythm and spacing is matched. The use of digital tools was integrated within the light wood frame construction to modify the commonly accepted approach to building.