Winter 2017: Modern Renos

DESIGNLINES

Your ultimate guide to Toronto's best contemporary design destinations

DESIGNLINES1 min read
Contributors
Who are you? Simon Lewsen What have you done for us lately? I wrote about a home for a family of three in a renovated Beaconsfield coach house (p. 72). Architect Timothy Mitanidis made ingenious use of limited space. If Toronto is to confront its den
DESIGNLINES3 min read
Hot Dates
To Nov 25 “Meet Me There” was the design cue given to nine TO architecture studios, and they came right back with models of their most innovative creations for public spaces. UUfie was awarded the top spot with Wa-Wa (“wa” is Japanese for “harmony”),
DESIGNLINES2 min read
Urban Update
1 THIS JUST IN Pinnacle International has some serious ambitions for One Yonge Street – currently the Toronto Star’s HQ. Alongside an addition that rises 10 floors above the lot’s existing 24-storey brutalist building, the multi-phase plan calls for
DESIGNLINES2 min readArchitecture
Souk Tabule
BORROWING BLUE: Cerulean tiles, creamy cyan accents and sapphire wallpaper are just a few pieces of the design puzzle at Souk. The newest addition to the Tabule family of restaurants balances the ambiance of a Beirut street market with clean lighting
DESIGNLINES2 min read
La Palma
STREET ART STUDY: It’s not hard to see the similarities between Toronto’s Trinity Bellwoods neighbourhood and Venice Beach, Los Angeles – both populated with ever-present street art, the trendiest in food and drink and all denominations of hipsters l
DESIGNLINES3 min read
Divide and Conquer
THE BRIEF: A young professional moving back to Toronto from a shared apartment in NYC craved a home that reflected her playful personality. Before bidding on a Broadview Avenue loft, she brought along Studio AC to assess the unit’s potential. What th
DESIGNLINES4 min read
Adventures in Renovating
“Be aware: you can’t apply for a new permit if a previous permit for your home has not been signed off by an inspector and officially closed. The onus then is on the new owner to complete the work of the original permit before being issued a new perm
DESIGNLINES2 min read
Drake Commissary
GETTING THE GREEN LIGHT: Repurposing defunct factories is something that comes naturally to John Tong. The design pro behind the Drake Hotel lived in industrial buildings throughout his twenties – spaces ripe for re-interpretation by the then-burgeon
DESIGNLINES2 min read
Dragonette’s Den
ARRIVING AT HEPBOURNE HALL LOFTS is not unlike pulling up to a classic college dorm. A conservative brick entrance leads to a series of narrow hallways, complete with endless single doors lining each side. Stepping into Martina Sorbara’s wide-open, f
DESIGNLINES2 min read
Between the Lanes
LIVING SMALL means rethinking conventional notions of luxury. Forget conspicuous consumption. What matters is quality of place. This Beaconsfield Village laneway house was built in the 1880s for horses, hay and carriage parts. Today, it’s a sophistic
DESIGNLINES2 min read
Geometry Rules
ADAPTING THE STALWART, brick-clad forms of the past into fresh living spaces is the hallmark of renovating a home in Toronto. While this frequently results in variations of the “put a cube on it” solution, there’s far more fun to be had in creating a
DESIGNLINES23 min read
Contemporary Furniture
Interior designers flock to 18 Watt to access exclusive continental furniture and lighting. The no-nonsense showroom packs in scores of examples of avant-garde Spanish seating from Beltá and CasaDesús. The Spanish influence continues with poufs, benc
DESIGNLINES16 min readFashion
Design Accessories
The brainchild of graphic designer Chris Hanz is his ode to functionalist sensibilities, specializing in high-quality desk supplies and housewares with a stripped-down aesthetic and clear purpose – you won’t find any decorative items here. You will,
DESIGNLINES1 min read
Closet Systems
Let CC’s consultants walk you through the process of selecting customized organization and storage solutions for the garage, office, bedroom, kitchen and more: think workbenches with drawers, Murphy beds and wardrobes with adjustable shelving, as wel
DESIGNLINES9 min read
Flooring, Surfacing & Tiles
It seems that low-maintenance quartz surfacing is everywhere. But have you touched large Caesarstone slabs while consulting a pro about its many uses? This brand-new 300-squaremetre showroom allows you to do just that. A long wall showcases all 62 va
DESIGNLINES3 min read
Kids Furniture
This enchanting Rosedale store is wellstocked with decor treats for tots and parents sourced from around the world. For instance, &K Amsterdam’s copper cooler keeps the champagne chilled when it comes time to welcome your new arrival; meanwhile, smar
DESIGNLINES11 min read
Kitchen & Bath
The kitchen and bathroom fixtures at AC range from traditional to contemporary. Among the 50-plus brands in store are faucets by Blanco and Hansgrohe, rain showers by Aquabrass and Dornbracht, commercial-grade sinks by Elkay, elegant freestanding soa
DESIGNLINES5 min readFashion
Lighting
Intricate and imaginative lighting here is sourced from American, Israeli and local artists – some is even crafted on-site. This intimate gallery displays Swarovski crystal, as well as luminaires in metal and handmade glass that is fused, blown and d
DESIGNLINES2 min read
Home Entertainment Systems
High fidelity meets high design at the Danish electronics brand’s multi-zone space that emphasizes technological excellence. Offerings include home-theatre set-ups and ready-to-rock audio equipment imbued with smart wireless technology. The sculptura
DESIGNLINES3 min read
Outdoor Furniture
Build your backyard oasis with Tuuci parasols and colourful egg-shaped LED garden lights standing up to a half-metre tall. ARD’s Madrid extension dining tables, featuring powdercoated aluminum with tempered glass tops, pair with stackable Cosmo dinin
DESIGNLINES4 min read
Rugs & Carpets
There are flooring options galore across this showroom, which houses a versatile selection of contemporary and traditional styles in an extensive array of carpet tiles, hand- and machine-made area rugs, hardwood flooring and wooden planks. Standouts
DESIGNLINES2 min read
Textiles
This “design concierge” has fabric, wallpaper and rugs – plus all the necessary installers – at the ready for interior designers. Over 10,000 fabrics are on hand by such top brands as Blendworth, Maxwell, Pindler and Telefina. Many are hung with extr
DESIGNLINES7 min readFashion
Vintage & Reclaimed Furniture
Zen simplicity infuses Artemano’s hand-crafted furniture sourced from India, Africa, Indonesia and Thailand. The in-store experience is relaxing, enriched by running water and organic visuals – such as heavy tree roots reimagined as a bar or coffee t
DESIGNLINES2 min read
Wallcoverings & Paint
This Annex shop stocks wallpaper and floor coverings otherwise impossible to find in the city, including Object Carpet’s Rugxstyle collection of incredibly thin, industrial-grade area rugs with colour-tinted, geometric shapes and Eley Kishimoto’s vib
DESIGNLINES5 min read
Windows, Doors & Fireplaces
It’s business in the front here and beautiful sliding barn doors in the back. All custom doors and furniture are made on-site in woods that range from pine to teak, complete with crafted-righthere hardware. Recent projects include a walnut slab model
DESIGNLINES1 min read
Workplace Furniture
The dashing task chairs, desk sets and storage found in this showroom channel the verve of Suits, courtesy of such design stars as Marcel Wanders, Jasper Morrison and Patricia Urquiola. Lust-worthy leather pieces from Poltrona Frau add luxe, while Ca
DESIGNLINES2 min read
Riddle Me This
IT WAS ERNO RUBIK, inventor of the Rubik’s Cube, who pointed out that the problems of puzzles are very near to the problems of life. Full of voids, misplaced pieces and false starts, existence has no simple arrangement. Maybe that’s why puzzles remai

DESIGNLINES

More Issues From DESIGNLINES