Earlier this week I got a sneak peek of One Spadina Crescent – the new building for the Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape, and Design at the University of Toronto.
The renovation and addition was designed by the Boston-based firm NADAAA. And let me tell you, it’s absolutely spectacular.
I was in a rush at the time and I didn’t have my real camera on me, but I managed to quickly grab this snap:
Vancouver has supported laneway houses since 2009. So today I thought I would take a look at what their policy considers to be an “eligible lot.” All of the information for this post was taken from this laneway housing how-to guide dated November 2016.
Here are some of the main ways in which they assess eligibility:
Laneway houses are allowed on all lots in the following zones: RS single family zones, RT-11/11N, RM- 7/7N, RM-8/8N, RM-9/9N and RM-9A/9AN.
LWHs are permitted in addition to a secondary suite within the main house.
LWHs can be for family use or for rental.
LWHs are permitted on lots with a minimum width of 9.8m (32.15′). But provided they are designed appropriately, planning may also allow LWHs on lots as narrow as 7.3m (23′).
The LWH site must have access to an open lane.
A fire access path must be provided from the street along one of the sideyards to the entrance of the LWH. This path needs to have a clear width of 900mm.
Earlier this week I got a sneak peek of One Spadina Crescent – the new building for the Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape, and Design at the University of Toronto.
The renovation and addition was designed by the Boston-based firm NADAAA. And let me tell you, it’s absolutely spectacular.
I was in a rush at the time and I didn’t have my real camera on me, but I managed to quickly grab this snap:
Vancouver has supported laneway houses since 2009. So today I thought I would take a look at what their policy considers to be an “eligible lot.” All of the information for this post was taken from this laneway housing how-to guide dated November 2016.
Here are some of the main ways in which they assess eligibility:
Laneway houses are allowed on all lots in the following zones: RS single family zones, RT-11/11N, RM- 7/7N, RM-8/8N, RM-9/9N and RM-9A/9AN.
LWHs are permitted in addition to a secondary suite within the main house.
LWHs can be for family use or for rental.
LWHs are permitted on lots with a minimum width of 9.8m (32.15′). But provided they are designed appropriately, planning may also allow LWHs on lots as narrow as 7.3m (23′).
The LWH site must have access to an open lane.
A fire access path must be provided from the street along one of the sideyards to the entrance of the LWH. This path needs to have a clear width of 900mm.
Brandon Donnelly
Daily insights for city builders. Published since 2013 by Toronto-based real estate developer Brandon Donnelly.
What you see in the middle are steps leading down to an “open bleacher space” that functions as a crit space and as an oculus that brings light into the core of the building. In the middle of the building is a large flex space.
Because the building effectively sits in the middle of Spadina Avenue, the windows on the right side (above) look directly up the street, as if you were standing in the middle of it. I wish I had betters photos to share with you all.
When you’re an architecture student, you spend almost all of your waking time in studio. I can certainly think of worse buildings to be cooped up in. I’m excited to see it in full swing come September.
Click here if you’d like to see renderings of the building.
The lot must be deep enough to allow for a both a LWH and a backyard open space.
The LWH and the main house must have a minimum separation distance of 4.9m (16′).
If you’re a regular reader of this blog and wondering how Mackay Laneway House stacks up against the above criteria, here are the test results:
The lot is in a Residential R Zone, which permits a variety of different building types ranging from detached houses to fourplexes and apartment buildings.
The lot width is 7.62m, which exceeds the lower minimum dimension.
There is a lane.
The access path on the sideyard is 2.38m, but with a bay window projecting into it. So net, it’s closer to 2m, which still greatly exceeds the minimum clear width above.
The design includes for a generous backyard between the main house and the proposed LWH.
The separation distance between the first floor of the main house and the proposed LWH is 7.5m (24′-7″). The main house steps back on the second floor, and so this distance would then increase. But in all cases, the minimum dimension is easily exceeded.
If you’d like to learn more about laneway housing in Vancouver, click here.
Ontario first introduced the Condominium Act in 1968. The first condo project was supposedly built by Bert Winberg – founder of Rockport Group – between 1968-1969. He saw what developers were doing in California and Florida and he brought it to Toronto.
Since then, here is what condo supply has looked like across the Greater Toronto Area:
What you see in the middle are steps leading down to an “open bleacher space” that functions as a crit space and as an oculus that brings light into the core of the building. In the middle of the building is a large flex space.
Because the building effectively sits in the middle of Spadina Avenue, the windows on the right side (above) look directly up the street, as if you were standing in the middle of it. I wish I had betters photos to share with you all.
When you’re an architecture student, you spend almost all of your waking time in studio. I can certainly think of worse buildings to be cooped up in. I’m excited to see it in full swing come September.
Click here if you’d like to see renderings of the building.
The lot must be deep enough to allow for a both a LWH and a backyard open space.
The LWH and the main house must have a minimum separation distance of 4.9m (16′).
If you’re a regular reader of this blog and wondering how Mackay Laneway House stacks up against the above criteria, here are the test results:
The lot is in a Residential R Zone, which permits a variety of different building types ranging from detached houses to fourplexes and apartment buildings.
The lot width is 7.62m, which exceeds the lower minimum dimension.
There is a lane.
The access path on the sideyard is 2.38m, but with a bay window projecting into it. So net, it’s closer to 2m, which still greatly exceeds the minimum clear width above.
The design includes for a generous backyard between the main house and the proposed LWH.
The separation distance between the first floor of the main house and the proposed LWH is 7.5m (24′-7″). The main house steps back on the second floor, and so this distance would then increase. But in all cases, the minimum dimension is easily exceeded.
If you’d like to learn more about laneway housing in Vancouver, click here.
Ontario first introduced the Condominium Act in 1968. The first condo project was supposedly built by Bert Winberg – founder of Rockport Group – between 1968-1969. He saw what developers were doing in California and Florida and he brought it to Toronto.
Since then, here is what condo supply has looked like across the Greater Toronto Area:
