The douBLe House designed by Alva Roy Architects artfully fulfills the clients’ wish for both privacy and ample natural light across multiple levels. The residence, located in Toronta, Canada, incorporates a range of tactile, expressive materials—from polished black handmade bricks and white panels that reflect the shifting sky to Japanese Shou Sugi Ban wood cladding and Corten steel—that evoke a quiet confidence.
The design team explains, “The materials reflect not just light but also a sense of time, changing with the day and lending the home a rhythm in harmony with nature.”
The design intentionally layers materials to define and emphasize the home’s distinct forms. Predominantly encased in black bricks and floor-to-ceiling glazing, the first and second levels step back on three sides, creating a foundation that supports a projecting second storey. The second level, adorned in reflective white panels, subtly shifts color as daylight transforms. “We wanted this surface to respond to its surroundings, almost like a living element of the home,” the design team elaborates.
For a young family of four, the clients envisioned a comfortable, art-forward space with distinct sleeping areas. The interiors reveal themselves in grand, sweeping volumes that simultaneously provide openness and intimacy. The design team incorporated double-story voids with skylights, positioned on the north side to harness northern light, creating spaces that “reveal more as you move through them, carving out both expansive and sheltered zones.”
Despite nine levels, the stairs are not noticeable throughout the house, carving the interior space into different zones of visual and programmatic experience while simultaneously gesturing at what lies beyond. Floor-to-ceiling glazing in the living, dining, and family rooms frames verdant views of the backyard, where “the landscape enters the living space,” as the designers describe – thanks to sliding patio doors that blur the boundary between interior and exterior. The second floor’s layout with three steps separating the principal and children’s bedrooms imparts privacy while maintaining family connectivity. The north-facing office and guest room on the intermediate level offer solitude, accentuated by views of a secluded terrace and sky-lit void above, creating a serene retreat amidst urban life.
Project & images: Alva Roy Architects
Article: Lily Wong
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