Twelve Tacoma, Toronto, Canada

Twelve Tacoma by Toronto-based Aleph-Bau, stands out in a steady line-up of typical 19th century workers’ rowhouses in Toronto’s central Summerhill neighbourhood. The coloured brick facades and quintessential front porches of the neighbouring houses couch Twelve Tacoma in a local vernacular that both subdues and accentuates its modern qualities. This paradoxical sensation is born from the choice of materials: Twelve Tacoma’s white paint and corrugated aluminum cladding are distinctly elegant, crisp additions to an otherwise familiar neighbourhood aesthetic. Certain details—like the simple front railing and plexiglass awning over the door—mimic the ordinary signifiers of the neighbouring homes, but with a decidedly contemporary bent. 

        Tacoma十二号住宅位于多伦多市中心的Ashhill附近典型的19世纪工人连排住宅中。街区中的房屋都具有当地典型的门廊和彩色砖墙立面，Tacoma住宅纯白色的外立面在其中最为吸引眼球，强调了建筑本身的现代属性。这种自相矛盾的感受来源于建筑师对材料的选择，住宅白色的油漆和铝制波形版的包层凸显了建筑优雅的一面，同时也成为了街区内一抹靓丽的风景。入口处的扶手、有机玻璃等一些细节延续了在普通家庭中常见的景象，同时富含现代感。

▲街景／streetscape 

▲住宅入口／entry of the house

Yet, Twelve Tacoma is not over-bearing or out of place. The aluminum upper level goes almost unseen from the front of the house, poking up over the rooftop like a curious child. From the laneway in the back, the full vertical mass comes into view, as stacked viewpoints dissolve the borders of inside and outside, bringing the nearby foliage into the home and the inhabitants to the outdoors. To construct the third-floor addition without burdening the party walls, a new steel structure is introduced to the original wooden building from the ground all the way to the upper roof. The interior is austerely furnished and minute details repeat with a refreshing dogmatism. Even the modular sliding storage units in the front hall and bedrooms work to conceal the usual clutter of domestic life, creating a holistic composition that emphasizes near-Fordist organization standards.

        然而住宅中的这种现代元素并不会太跳脱。在前门入口处几乎看不到铝制表皮的扩建空间，只有爬上屋顶或者从后面的巷道处才能看到。垂直堆叠的扩建空间模糊的室内外的边界，将户外的植物引入生活空间。为了能够在扩建的同时保证房屋的安全性，一个钢结构的框架从地面开始引入了原本的木结构的建筑。室内的装修精美，清爽的风格令人心旷神怡，潜艇和卧室中模块化的收纳单元可以掩盖家中的混乱，创造出一个类似于福特对于空间组织的整体构想。

▲住宅外观／appearance of the building

“Architectural elements disappear in favour of the atmosphere – one that is an amplified reflection of the outside; light, the sky, the clouds, the neighbors’ tree, the sound of rainfall and the shabby structures in the laneway are inside now.” Delnaz Yekrangian, Aleph-Bau’s director.

        “建筑元素的消失有助于将光线、天空、云层、街边的树木，雨水的声音和巷道中的破旧的建筑物都融入新的空间。” Delnaz Yekrangian，Aleph-Bau事务所主持建筑师。

▲起居室／living area

▲餐厅／dining area

▲地下室／basement

What takes the house beyond the more somber or uninhabitable effects of modernist aesthetics is its welcoming relationship to natural elements. Twelve Tacoma is open and transparent, inviting nature in. An upstairs bathroom is fitted with a wall of plants, overhanging the bathtub, with the whole space set in slightly by a balcony but nevertheless featuring an unabashedly curtainless, floor-to-ceiling glass door. Large windows running all the way down the rear exterior wall of the house open up the space to sunlight and reflect an energizing brightness in the interior. The staircase in the center of the home acts as a pivotal force in the design, its whimsical geometry giving the space a playful character, while the basement living room is slightly sunken, making the concrete bench seating feel like a small, personal amphitheatre.

        住宅中的现代主义美学和沉闷不适宜居住的体验被室内的自然元素中和。住宅内开放透明的空间引入了更多的自然光和绿色植物。楼上的浴室中配有一度植物墙壁，悬挂在浴缸上，与落地窗外的露台一起点亮了整个空间。整个住宅背面的墙体都安装了大型的落地窗，室内空间充满的阳光和活力。住宅中的楼梯作为设计中的关键元素，它异想天开的几何形态赋予了空间俏皮的性格，地下室中的客厅微微下沉，使得混凝土座椅变为一个小型的露天剧场。

▲楼梯／stairs

▲浴室／bathroom

▲卧室／bedroom

The rooftop terrace and unusual geometries of the house are unprecedented reactions to Toronto’s strict zoning and code regulations. The architects have worked with and not against the stipulations to seamlessly integrate small cubby holes and simple railings that appear, effortlessly, as if they had always been a part of the original design. Aleph-Bau’s project amplifies the sensory, imaginative and intellectual relationship to traditional architecture in an intense dialogue with its urban context and surrounding natural elements.

        屋顶的露台和几何形态的扩建部分挑战了多伦多严格的法规。建筑师一直在努力将设计融进原本的区域风格中，好像这些空间都是房子原始设计的一部分。Aleph-Bau的设计团队让空间与城市和自然对话，延伸了人们对传统建筑的看法，拓展了想象的空间。

▲扩建的三层空间／the extension of the third floor

▲屋顶露台／the terrace

▲平面图、剖面图、区位／floor plans, sections and site

项目名：Twelve Tacoma
项目地：加拿大多伦多

客户：private 

设计公司： Aleph-Bau (Delnaz Yekrangian)
设计团队： Gina Gallaugher, Golara Jalalpour, Joseph McBurney, So Tadachi, Fabiana Todescan, Leila Sadri, Kazem Yekrangian 

项目完工：2016
项目面积：114 sqm (1.223 sqft)

结构工程： Blackwell 

摄影师：Tom Arban, Kunaal Mohan (drone photography)

Edit by Designwire