In recent years, a new housing typology has emerged in London that involves the practice of building penthouses on top of existing buildings. Here's a post I wrote back in 2021. This is not the simplest way to build new housing, but there are clear benefits. New housing does get created (however incremental it may be), existing buildings are preserved (which is positive from a sustainability perspective), and housing complexes with maintenance and repair needs have a new way to raise money.

Here's a penthouse example completed in 2023 that was designed by David Kohn Architects for Baylight Properties.

What I think I glean from the plans is that the building's existing elevator and exit stair were extended up into the new penthouse space, and a new internal stair was added within the penthouse. This would have required a great deal of coordination to minimize disruption to the existing building. Presumably, they built the new shaft extension, got everything ready, and then shut down the elevator for the shortest possible period of time to switch everything over. The existing building is only 4 floors, so it's not the end of the world.

As an aside, Baylight Properties has other rooftop projects underway, including the Sky Houses at Ransome's Dock. I also very much appreciate the ethos of the firm. On their website, they clearly state: "Our overwhelming interest has been to combine the harsh realities of business with all the benefits good architecture bring." It sounds a lot like how we think about our approach at Globizen. Maybe it's time we also start looking at some rooftops.

Project photograph by Will Pryce via David Kohn Architects

Plans from David Kohn Architects

Happy Canada Day! As a reminder, today marks the anniversary of Canadian Confederation, specifically the union of the Province of Canada, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick on July 1, 1867.

Summer is reaching its zenith with a high of 32 degrees expected here in Toronto today. I know that everyone thinks their city is the best when it's hot and sunny outside, but I do think there's something magical about Toronto in the summer. One thing I always look forward to is the feeling of riding a bicycle around the city on a hot and humid night.

On top of this summer euphoria, it was just announced that Kawhi Leonard will be returning to the Toronto Raptors, presumably because he wants to win another championship and he misses Toronto. So, I'm fairly certain that real estate in the city just appreciated 5% over the last 24 hours.

If you're looking for something city-building-related to dig into, here's an interesting report from CBRE on global data centre trends. It specifically looks at the 4 largest markets in North America, Asia-Pacific, Europe, and Latin America. (It's a reminder that Canada needs to step up!)

Latin America led year-over-year global growth (as of Q1 2026) with a 41.3% jump in inventory (primarily Mexico). Meanwhile, the world's largest data centre market (Northern Virginia) saw its vacancy rate drop to an all-time low of 0.3%.

Overall, power availability and grid infrastructure continue to constrain new supply, and that is expected to persist beyond 2030. The tech industry is not used to being fettered by physical constraints, but we're seeing that today with the practical end of "zero marginal cost."

Enjoy the day, everyone.

Cover photo by Mayur Arvind on Unsplash

Inventory chart from CBRE

Now that a car seat lives permanently in the backseat of my car and I have learned how much it compresses the passenger seat in front of it, I have on more than one occasion thought to myself, "I guess this is why people feel the need to buy bigger cars." And the data shows this is true: cars generally keep getting bigger.

A brand-new report from Transport & Environment found that over the last 25 years in the EU, the UK, and Norway, the average newly-sold car has increased in length by 1.2 cm per year, in height by 0.5 cm per year, and in width by 0.5 cm per year.

But it's not necessarily because buyers are looking to fit more kids and car seats. Average household sizes have fallen in the US, so it's similar to housing: people are having fewer kids and, therefore, want to consume bigger homes (and cars). My cursory understanding is that there tends to be some gamesmanship with car sizes and emissions targets, but I do also think it's a case of consumers just wanting bigger and better.

For those of us who deal in the built environment, this is an important trend to consider because larger cars (1) tend to kill more pedestrians and (2) take up more space in our cities. The report estimates that, if current trends continue, European cities could lose between 8.5 and 14% of their on-street parking spaces by 2040.

Small marginal changes of only a few centimetres may not seem material on an individual basis, but when you layer on pedestrian deaths, urban parking constraints and traffic congestion, it only strengthens the case for the Tokyo model of urbanism.

Cover photo by Oleksandr Voloshchenko on Unsplash

Slides from Transport & Environment