Close by the intersection of Beresford Ave and St Johns Rd sit two buildings of different times. One a new infill modernist house and the other a corner building from the period where there was a small variety and grocer every few blocks among the residential homes.
Images of the great infill house on the continue reading side.
The retail stores now are repurposed from shops. The new home just up from St Johns Rd on Beresford Ave, is a marvel of infill building. The house is designed for privacy from the ave and The front window has been moved to the side of the house just in front of the recessed entrance way.
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Once upon a time, a stretch (Runnymede to Jane, along St. Johns) that had a number of community businesses, as you can see from the styles of the buildings (entrance-ways, flat roofs, etc.) that have been re-purposed for residential …a few of the businesses remain. Final straw was probably the extension of the subway into Runnymede which began the development of the Bloor West Village and drawing shoppers into that area and away from St. Johns (and Annette, for that matter….anyone remember Nadia’s Delicatessen?)
Man that is UGLY!
When 1st looked upon, with the other buildings around, you could, and always could feel that way, yet viewing the building in the context of how close and open the street is to Dundas on the north, the insular design probably works for the residents.
I beg to differ regarding comments about this concrete home being a ‘marvel of infill’. I can show you many more that address the owner’s need for privacy without looking like the Hell’s Angels moved their bunker onto the street. This building shuts out the world and turns it’s back on the street.. looking cold and unfriendly.
It isn’t bad but just because you hire an architect doesn’t mean that you’ll end up with a successful project.
Unfortunately there is no architectural review board in this city unlike in many old historical cities in the U.S. where the historical architectural fabric of the neighbourhood can be preserved, allowing new builds and renovations to blend in. There are many examples of truly atrocious buildings that have recently gone up that could have benefited from this. ‘Kafka’s Tower’ on Morningside near Beresford is one such appalling disaster and another egregious bunker built on Armadale on the West side near Ardagh.
I will go and take look at the other houses you listed – you may want to look at today’s post about front bump outs in Bloor West Village http://www.junctioneer.ca/?p=14064 Morningside near Beresford is one such appalling disaster and another egregious bunker built on Armadale on the West side near Ardagh.
Fully agree with you on the need for an architectural review board, to protect particular buildings in areas, The blog as you may have noticed is really concerned about the loss of the west ends great industrial buildings. Yet not distinguished – architecturally streets and avenues can serve as places for different architectural styles.
I agree that this infill house’s architecture is terrible. There is no design; there’s just a massive blank wall in the most prominent part of the facade. It’s definitely a failure aesthetically, and I doubt it’s practical. But it’s rare to see such lousy infill. Infill with contemporary architecture tends to be refined. I’d welcome a design review board for smaller projects like infill houses (we have one for major developments like condos) to avoid even rare architectural failures like this house. But I wouldn’t want to see architects restricted from producing good examples of contemporary styles by conservative design review boards uninterested in anything contemporary. Buildings in new styles can still fit in by incorporating traditional facade materials and proportions.