In Toronto, a Spaceship-esque Laneway House Finds Its Landing
Pocket Laneway House, Designed by Toronto-based firm Weiss Architecture + Urbanism, has a distinctive aesthetic.
Designed by Toronto-based firm Weiss Architecture + Urbanism, this otherworldly home was created for a couple and their two young children at the back of their primary residence.
The parents, one a travel writer and the other a retired buffalo rancher, had already tasked the firm with designing their principal Toronto home on the same lot. Following this project, they decided to create a laneway property as a potential caregiver residence, part of a long-term aging-in-place plan. The small structure includes a living room, kitchen, bedroom, and bathroom, all on a single floor above the carport. The home, Pocket Laneway House, has a distinctive aesthetic. The exterior is a shiny corrugated and corrosion-resistant galvalume steel, ensuring the structure stands out, especially against the leafy foliage of the garden.
The laneway house is partially elevated above a carport with helical piles, large screw-like foundation systems set into the ground, supporting a steel V-shaped column. Rather than simply a design flourish, primarily floating the structure preserves the root system of a large, mature maple tree nearby, with the piles eliminating the need for excavation or pouring concrete.
The retro-futuristic design palette isn’t coincidental but was part of the inspiration for the Weiss Architecture + Urbanism founding principal, Kevin Weiss, who worked on the property. “In 1969, I was five,” Weiss explains. “I watched every second of the lunar landing. The form of the laneway house was determined by various site factors, especially the desire to preserve the tree. But I think it ended up looking a little like a lunar lander from the Apollo era.”
The steel exterior contrasts with warm cedar siding on the underside of the carport. Accent colours in bright red on the V-shaped column and the aqua-green front door provide further contrast from the futuristic, space-age feel, and are vibrant nods to the clients’ love of folk art.
Inside, the interiors are simple, without the shiny corrugated steel and bright flourishes found outside. Simple wood floors and white walls create a sense of space and airiness, and contribute to the sense that the home is bigger than its floor plan. There are still some splashes of colour in the purple subway tile in the kitchen and the bright aqua door, while strategically placed windows fill the home with natural light.
Photography by Robert Holowka (Birdhouse Media) and David Whittaker.
