Text description provided by the architects. Along the forest edge of Torontos Don Valley, the West Don Ravine Passive House is the first residence of the city that is certified under Phius+ (Passive House Institute US). The house designed by the Poiesi's architecture for the parents of the architect replaces a former three -story structure with a resilient, fully electric bungalow, which is organized on two levels: a discreet entry from the street above and a spacious floor below that is geared towards the forested gorge.
The design includes passive house principles from the start and reaches a superized, airtight construction with minimal energy loads. Driven by the desire for climate effectiveness after the ice storm of 2013, the owners were looking for a durable, low -maintenance home that supported aging and at the same time remained deeply connected to its landscape. With its tight cover, high-performance windows and strategic glazing, the house reduces heating and cooling energy by over 90%and enables fully electric operation that is operated by renewable energies.
In the middle of the plan, a sunken garden draws light from south to north, which anchored the circulation of the house and connects the two floors. In the north, a full -level glass facade opens through a series of terraces outdoors, while a mezzanine -shaped mezzanine defines the threshold between private and public spaces over it. Interior materials reflect the environmental ethics of the house: terracotta, local limestone, exposed concrete and receded pine frame a series of simple, well -lit rooms, which prioritize comfort, acoustics and air quality indoors.
The site design restores and improves the native ecology of the gorge inclination. The team worked within the ecological setback boundaries and the footprint of the original foundation and replaced the hard landscape design with local perennials and under -boosting plantations that were suitable for the microclimate of the location. This strategy, which was developed in collaboration with local ecologists, led to a naturalized, without guardrail into the gorge-one expansion of the seamless relationship of the house to its surroundings.
The project also became a test place for the practice itself. When navigating the Passive House Certification process, the Poiesis put together a technical team that focused on enveloping, ventilation and shading systems. Unexpected delays during Covid-19 were an opportunity to deepen research on local biological diversity and urban forest protection. The resulting stewardship program now supports the ongoing learning of the community along the gorge.
For the architecture of the Poiesis, the project embodies a wider ethos: that high -performance houses can be elegant, contextual and deeply rooted. West Don Ravine Passive House is both a family house and a prototype for a resistant home design in a changing climate.
