Integral House in Toronto, Canada by Shim-Sutcliffe Architects

Article source: Shim-Sutcliffe Architects

The Integral House creates a place for architecture, music, and performance located at the threshold between Toronto’s urban fabric and its extensive natural ravine system. In the project’s program brief, our client clearly articulated his dual passion for mathematics and music and his interest in curvilinear shapes resulting in spatially complex volumes.

Image Courtesy James Dow

• Architects: Shim-Sutcliffe Architects
• Project: Integral House
• Location: Toronto, Canada
• Acoustical: Swallow Consultants
• Engineer: Blackwell Bowick Partnership; DT Prohaska Engineering Dynamic Designs and Engineering Inc.; Toews Engineering
• Fountain Consultant: Waterarchitecture Inc.
• General Contractor: Eisner Murray Custom Builders
• Interior Design: Decisive Moment
• Landscape Architect: NAK Design Group
• Lighting Design: Suzanne Powadiuk Design Inc.
• Photography: Ed Burtynsky, James Dow, Bob Gundu
• Software used: The design was developed though hand drafting and physical model building techniques.  The working drawings for construction were further developed using AutoCAD, along with some additional hand drafting.    Some of the custom hardware pieces – such as the  door handles and glass clips for the blue glass stair were developed using Rhinoceros NURBS modeling. The design process was iterative – typically it would start with a hand sketch, or a physical model, which would then be further developed using AutoCAD, and / or Rhino, depending on the item.

Image Courtesy James Dow

Viewed from its residential neighborhood, one reads a two story building with a grounded wood base sitting below a translucent gently shaped etched glass skin. The wooden base dissolves into oak clad fins echoing the undulating contour lines of the river valley and the winding pathways of the native forest of oaks, beaches, and maples. The main concert hall/performance space is located a full floor below your entry level and becomes intertwined with the verdant ravine landscape.

Image Courtesy James Dow

The project integrates many sustainable features into the site and building. A field of vertical geothermal pipes supplies heating and cooling for the entire project including the main concert hall/performance space for 150 – 200 people. A lush green roof is centrally located and a visual feature from many parts of the project. The vertical wooden fins provide sun shading from the exterior as well as contributing to the acoustical performance of the concert hall/performance space. Materials have been carefully selected for their aesthetic contribution as well as their enduring qualities based on life cycle costing calculations.

Image Courtesy James Dow

Image Courtesy James Dow

Tags: Canada, Toronto

Categories: Autocad, Concert hall, House, Rhino

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