The clients, a young family with two small children wanted more space for play and individual bedrooms but expressed a desire not to ‘lose one another’ in a home too vast or impersonal.

Their one-story bungalow, a relic of the first wave of suburban development in this area, has been expanded through the careful integration of appropriately scaled additional program and volume.

Careful study of the solar pattern across the site was made so as to optimize potential daylight in the north-facing playroom.

A carport and an efficiency apartment on the first floor were removed to make way for a new addition containing a playroom and a stair to the new second floor. A large masonry chimney in the center of the house was also removed to open the space.

On the second story, side-by-side bedrooms for the children are connected through a ‘Jack & Jill’ bathroom as well as a new Master Suite.

Scale – In contrast to the swollen 'farm' houses sprouting up in many suburban areas, the renovation builds upon the existing architecture, highlighting the intimacy and charm of the cottage-scaled older home.

A carport and efficiency apartment on the first floor were removed to make way for a new addition containing a first-floor playroom and a partial second story.

Interior blockages were removed on the first floor to create better flow between spaces.

The playroom’s double-height volume binds the first and second floors and provides access to the garden beyond through a covered porch tucked under the Master Suite.

New expansive windows frame views to a mature Japanese maple tree in the yard.

South-facing roof apertures capture and direct daylight deep into the north-facing playroom and porch.

Side-by-side bedrooms for the children are connected through a ‘Jack & Jill’ bathroom.

Side-by-side bedrooms for the children are connected through a ‘Jack & Jill’ bathroom.

The new Master Suite has expansive views towards the garden and mature trees.

The Master Suite bath incorporates simple but rich natural materials.