Rathnelly House is a comprehensive and formally expressive renovation that adds 140 m² of new space and improved functionality to the existing footprint of a three-storey semi in midtown Toronto. Designed for a professional couple with a young child, Rathnelly House reflects their active lives. Our clients sought to maximize ceiling heights and floor area while accommodating their extensive collection of sports equipment. The design meets these functional needs while maintaining an elegant and dynamic design language defined by light, form, and materiality.
A sculptural language of built-ins and partitions weaves through the home, balancing crisp right angles with soft curves. These built-ins and partitions serve multiple roles—storage, seating, spatial definition—shaping volume and experience while highlighting key elements, like the sculptural stair, and concealing others, such as the entry foyer wall, hidden behind an apparent column.
Our clients often host family and friends, so we created open, flexible spaces with generous built-in storage and “overflow” seating for parties. On the ground floor, volumetric concrete elements—the stair landing, a curved dining booth replacing the traditional dining room, and a T-shaped media console and fireplace hearth—emerge from the concrete floor. They nestle into and slip past the dark walnut millwork, transitioning from orthogonal to curvilinear forms.
Similarly, the new staircase’s form evolves as it ascends. On the ground floor, monolithic, linear wood steps and their guardrail emerge from the concrete base. A rounded ceiling cut hints at the stair’s transformation above, where it shifts into a lighter, curvaceous form, drawing daylight from a third-floor window. This interplay of form and light enhances the home’s openness and continuity.
Upstairs, the primary suite features an enveloping pill-shaped walk-in shower finished in a seamless Tadelakt plaster that extends over even the custom vanity’s cabinets. The vanity and powder room sink are designed in interlocking triangular forms separated by a sculptural partition, creating playful and unexpected formal tension.
To meet our clients’ wishes for maximal ceiling heights and floor area, we engaged in a fast-tracked, double permit submission. We rebuilt the rear roof and all interiors, redistributing floorplates to maximize ceiling heights. By lowering the basement 1.4 meters, we turned a previously unusable level into a spa, storage, and recreational space.
Attention to form permeates every detail. The entry closet door is L-shaped to hug the curved stair landing as it opens. The kitchen’s marble countertops’ rounded corners reveal the supporting millwork beneath. A custom oversized kitchen sink, fabricated from blackened brass, is designed to develop a patina over time, adding material richness to the monolithic wood kitchen island. These details foster a richly immersive living experience.
Materiality is central to the home’s atmosphere, with naturally derived materials like concrete, wood, stone, and plaster chosen for their tactile richness and graceful aging. Polished concrete unifies the basement and main floor; kitchen counters are finished in matching Ceppo Di Gre marble. Tadelakt plaster envelops the fireplace and primary washroom. Custom hand-turned oak knobs and pulls reinforce the home’s cohesive aesthetic—a crafted space where function flows through expressive form.
