Brandon Donnelly
Daily insights for city builders. Published since 2013 by Toronto-based real estate developer Brandon Donnelly.
Brandon Donnelly
Daily insights for city builders. Published since 2013 by Toronto-based real estate developer Brandon Donnelly.
Monocle has new book coming out called The Monocle Book of Homes. It's a guide to 20 exceptional residences from around the world, spanning everywhere from Mexico and Australia to Finland and Lebanon. In addition to these home tours, the book is intended to serve as a kind of how-to guide for improving your own living space. There's also a portion dedicated to inspiring neighborhoods and community-driven urban projects. I don't have a copy of this book and so I can't vouch for its life-enhancing abilities. But Monocle generally has good taste and always takes nice photos. So I think many of you will appreciate this book. It's available for pre-order over here.
This afternoon my friend Gabriel, of Gabriel Fain Architects, sent me the work of APOLLO Architects & Associates. They are based in Japan and South Korea. Here is a preview of some of their “private houses”:
Monocle has new book coming out called The Monocle Book of Homes. It's a guide to 20 exceptional residences from around the world, spanning everywhere from Mexico and Australia to Finland and Lebanon. In addition to these home tours, the book is intended to serve as a kind of how-to guide for improving your own living space. There's also a portion dedicated to inspiring neighborhoods and community-driven urban projects. I don't have a copy of this book and so I can't vouch for its life-enhancing abilities. But Monocle generally has good taste and always takes nice photos. So I think many of you will appreciate this book. It's available for pre-order over here.
This afternoon my friend Gabriel, of Gabriel Fain Architects, sent me the work of APOLLO Architects & Associates. They are based in Japan and South Korea. Here is a preview of some of their “private houses”:
This design is fundamental to Junction House. It is why the project is called what it is. The goal was to create a suite that felt less like a condo, and more like a low-rise single-family home. Credit to Superkul Architects, and the rest of the team, for figuring it all out. There was a long list of requirements.
We wanted dedicated kitchen (+ island), dining, and living areas. (The living area is also wider than what you'd typically find.) We wanted a terrace with (standard) water and BBQ connections. We wanted the bedrooms upstairs for privacy/separation. We wanted both of them to have direct window exposure. And we wanted a master ensuite bathroom with a double vanity.
The House Collection includes some of my favorite suites in the building, which is why -- full disclosure -- I'm going to be moving into one of them. If you'd like more information about Junction House, reach out to Paul Johnston and his team at info@junctionhouse.ca or at 416-900-6076.
There is a lot that I love about these homes.
I love their simplicity. Look at this handrail detail. Nothing more than what is absolutely necessary.
I love their modesty. Many of the above homes hover around 150 square meters and many of them are much much smaller.
I love that each project’s description starts by talking about the owners and the site conditions, signaling that each home represents an individual response tailored to both the occupants and the context.
And I love that many of these homes have been built on unthinkably small parcels of land in dense urban settings; parcels that would be dismissed as entirely useless in other parts of the world.
The site area for this home is 46.53 square meters and the building’s footprint is 36.93 square meters.
Of course the Japanese housing market is a unique place. It’s worth pointing that out.
But as I browsed through what are effectively custom single family homes, I couldn’t help but be reminded that there’s a fine line between need and want.
Small can be very beautiful. But small is also subjective.
This design is fundamental to Junction House. It is why the project is called what it is. The goal was to create a suite that felt less like a condo, and more like a low-rise single-family home. Credit to Superkul Architects, and the rest of the team, for figuring it all out. There was a long list of requirements.
We wanted dedicated kitchen (+ island), dining, and living areas. (The living area is also wider than what you'd typically find.) We wanted a terrace with (standard) water and BBQ connections. We wanted the bedrooms upstairs for privacy/separation. We wanted both of them to have direct window exposure. And we wanted a master ensuite bathroom with a double vanity.
The House Collection includes some of my favorite suites in the building, which is why -- full disclosure -- I'm going to be moving into one of them. If you'd like more information about Junction House, reach out to Paul Johnston and his team at info@junctionhouse.ca or at 416-900-6076.
There is a lot that I love about these homes.
I love their simplicity. Look at this handrail detail. Nothing more than what is absolutely necessary.
I love their modesty. Many of the above homes hover around 150 square meters and many of them are much much smaller.
I love that each project’s description starts by talking about the owners and the site conditions, signaling that each home represents an individual response tailored to both the occupants and the context.
And I love that many of these homes have been built on unthinkably small parcels of land in dense urban settings; parcels that would be dismissed as entirely useless in other parts of the world.
The site area for this home is 46.53 square meters and the building’s footprint is 36.93 square meters.
Of course the Japanese housing market is a unique place. It’s worth pointing that out.
But as I browsed through what are effectively custom single family homes, I couldn’t help but be reminded that there’s a fine line between need and want.
Small can be very beautiful. But small is also subjective.
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