This is a really nice kitchen extension. In response to an “oppressively” low ceiling height, the architects — DGN Studio — lowered the existing ground floor by about 500mm. At the same time, they created a kind of “concrete tray” that fills the width of… Read More
I love the contrast in this villa between the more private spaces, which are housed in a brutalist concrete structure, and the more public spaces, which sit on top and are housed in minimalist glass box that is reminiscent of the Farnsworth House. All of… Read More
This house was designed by the Spanish firm, Space Popular. It was completed last year in Santa Barbara, Spain. Two things, in particular, make it unique: (1) Its exposed steel structure (12×12 grid) and (2) its brick vaults. But both of these things really serve… Read More
Junction House won “Best Innovative Suite Design” at the 39th BILD Awards (2019) last night. A big congrats to the team. Below is the floor plan that won. It is a 2 bedroom suite from our two-storey House Collection (JH_2B_H1). This design is fundamental to… Read More
Johnathon Little (husband) and Zoe Little (wife) recently launched a new housing concept out of the UK called Koto, which is supposedly Finnish for “cozy at home.” (Before Koto, Johnathon worked for Snohetta in Oslo.) The goal of the company is to create beautiful, small, and prefabricated… Read More
There are a number of affordable housing plans being thrown around in Toronto right now given that we have a municipal election coming up this fall. From what I have read, the plans are largely centered around surplus and/or available public land and possibly some… Read More
Yesterday Urbanation released its Q2-2018 rental report for the Greater Toronto Area. It tracks both purpose-built rentals and condominium rentals, the latter being condominium units that are listed for rent on MLS. The average condo rent, for all unit types across the GTA, is up 11.2%… Read More
The Urban Institute has a new study out that looks to explain why Millennial homeownership rates are lower than that of previous generations. The typical refrain is that Millennials have a lot more student debt and that the cost of housing in urban centers has… Read More
According to a recent study out of UCLA, which I discovered via this Curbed article, American families tend to spend most of their time at home in informal, rather than formal, spaces. That means more time in the kitchen and family room, as opposed to… Read More
The video below is a good follow-up to my recent post about the 100 million city and the rapid population growth that we are seeing in some parts of the developing world. If you can’t see the embedded video below, click here. It’s a video… Read More
BRANDON DONNELLY 