Double Duplex

Designed by Batay-Csorba Architects in Toronto, the residential building features a two story brise soleil, angled such that as viewers pass by multiple images appear.

The Double Duplex was created in response to the cities growing need for alternative housing models due to the rising cost of urban real estate and the need for urban densification within Toronto’s established residential neighbourhoods. Very few new low rise infill models of densification or affordable living within Toronto’s sought after historic residential neighbourhoods have been developed.

Each duplex residence consists of a two storey lower unit and a two story upper unit. The lower unit is carved out in the front and back with double height volumes that flow out to sunken courtyards maximizing the amount of natural daylight entering the unit and transgressing the basement apartment stereotype. The lower unit’s courtyards are wrapped in brightly painted murals by local artists. The upper unit is organized around a double height atrium space which brings natural light and ventilation into the center of the unit. Two exterior courtyards punctuate either end of the floor plate behind the wooden brise soleil, to the front a double height balcony overlooks the street and to the rear provides for a master bedroom terrace.

A two story brise soleil is angled such that as viewers pass by multiple images appear, catching the light differently at different times of the day. The screen proposes a variation of figures that evokes loose, variable associations while still remaining in the realm of affect, giving viewers a free-association. The patterns across the surface and varied interrelationships of depth, angle and shadow from one member to the next reinforce the abstractions they define in one moment and cloud it the next.