October 2022 - David Small Designs

How landscapes can help define a custom home

October 12, 2022/in News, Custom Home Design /by admin

There are few things more Canadian than the iconic images that capture our country’s rugged beauty from coast to coast. The Rockies, the prairies, the Canadian Shield and the picturesque shorelines of the Maritimes. Canada is forever defined by its landscapes.

Similarly, if on a much smaller scale, custom homes can often be defined by the landscape details of their surrounding property. From appendages that grab the land and take advantage of views and grading—especially in rural settings—to a residence’s careful integration into a specific site, landscape choices can sometimes be as important as those made during the architectural and interior design phase of a custom home project.

That’s especially important when taking the Natural Modern philosophy into consideration. Natural Modern is David Small Designs’ signature ethos. Think of it as our technique for ensuring that a custom home integrates seamlessly with its environment. Inspired by the work of iconic 20th century architect Frank Lloyd Wright, it leverages the natural landscape as an asset and tool to complement a wide array of architectural design approaches. It captures the purity and beauty of natural landscapes, translating scenic features into elements that make a well-designed custom home even more appealing.

Leveraging landscapes in the design process

One of the first considerations in the design of any custom home should be its placement on a site. This is crucial to ensuring that the home’s owners have every opportunity to enjoy potentially stunning sightlines from their property. If the home is situated adjacent to a lake in Ontario’s Muskoka region or overlooking a stunning mountain vista, for example, efforts should be made to maximize those views, perhaps even setting the stage for the inclusion of four-seasons rooms that allow for year-round enjoyment of landscapes and views. In contrast, if the home is in a residential neighbourhood, the focus typically shifts to positioning it in a way that helps maintain a degree of privacy.

In either case, careful planning comes into play. The placement of trees, hedges, interesting flora such as tall-growing grasses and other vegetation can bring a new degree of intrigue and dynamism to a custom home. Stone skirts, angled walls that are often integrated alongside Craftsman-style homes, or other types of landscape walls all help to add order and coherence to an outdoor space.
Topographic surveys aid in the process by highlighting opportunities to incorporate (or work with existing) slopes, natural stone elements or unique trees into a landscape plan. On that note, having a defined landscape design—often developed with the assistance of a landscape architect—provides a coherent strategy and action plan that allows all parties in the custom home design process (architectural designers, builders, etc.) to share in (and help achieve) the owner’s vision for the home.

A defined process is also important in areas where conservation or municipal regulations dictate strict land usage rules. In those cases, the degree of landscape design, or the measures taken to redefine the surrounding environment, will be limited by local ordinances. Homes backing onto ravines, lakes or rivers, or parks are often subject to very specific design restrictions. Of course, those requirements aren’t necessarily barriers to success. They can present challenges, to be sure, but they also offer new opportunities for creativity and to preserve certain natural elements. Restrictions can open the door to some of the most interesting landscape innovations.

Landscape mastery at work

Many David Small Designs homes are indicative of the benefits of careful landscape planning, but two stand out. Cottage in the City is located in the heavily-wooded Lorne Park Estates area of Mississauga, Ont.—which, decades ago, served as a summer retreat for Toronto residents (hence the home’s nickname). Natural exterior materials blend seamlessly with the surrounding forest—a landscape so bucolic that it still could be mistaken for Central Ontario cottage country. This natural urban oasis features a timber-framed porch, a three-storey stone chimney and large glass gables. But it’s the home’s side elevation that heavily references Muskoka cottages and captures the essence of the surrounding environment.

Similarly, our Modern Country Farmhouse project in Mulmur, Ont., features a four-season room and balconies that showcase views of the valley in which the home is situated. A pond on the property enhances its rural appeal, while intricate stonework and thoughtful landscape design give the home the feel of a remote retreat where the owners, their friends and family can escape from the stresses of everyday life. At the same time, they can still enjoy the benefits of a major city, because Modern Country Farmhouse is situated only about an hour away from downtown Toronto.

The benefits of thoughtful, studied landscape design should never go overlooked. Paying close attention to the natural environment can help transform a well-appointed custom home into a forever home showpiece.

The David Small Design Team
Contact a member of our team today to learn more about our custom home design process.

It takes a custom home designer to reimagine a residence

October 7, 2022/in News, Custom Home Design /by admin

There’s something special about the unmistakable coherence of a well-designed custom home. From symmetry and massing to cladding and other architectural adornments, every design thought is well-considered and aligns with the owner’s vision for their dream home. When done right, a custom residence is a refined composition that should only be altered with the utmost care.

The unfortunate reality is that renovations or additions are often carried out in ad hoc fashion. In those cases, the changes to the home are often not harmonious with its original design. Disparate architectural styles are sometimes merged to ill effect, such as unsuccessful attempts to blend modern and traditional, which is just one example of the kind of home improvement that can go very wrong. In those cases, what can seem like daring, bold architectural decisions result in regrettable misfires and client disappointment; the home’s defining characteristics diminished by a desire for something different, but at a steep compositional cost.

In some cases, a contractor may be ill-equipped to bring the renovation vision to life. While their general contracting expertise could be strong, they may not be able to deliver an equivalent level of construction quality to rival that of the primary build. Others may not be able to construct an addition or execute a renovation in a specific style. Think modern designs, which can be particularly challenging to execute. And though some contractors will boast in-house design expertise, most can only produce technical drawings that set the parameters for their building work, rather than conceiving a design that properly aligns with or enhances that of the original home.

That’s why a custom home addition or renovation is best executed with the expertise and vision of an experienced custom home designer.

The many considerations that bring an addition or renovation to life

When the David Small Designs team works with clients to reimagine their home, our goal is for people to see an entirely seamless post-design renovation. The core qualities of the original home and its new elements should always shine through in harmony. Because let’s not forget that major residential updates are most successful when they bring a revitalized aesthetic energy and sense of function to a home. A key question we ask: How can the update foster new conversations and improve the lives of the families that occupy the home?

In that way, enhancements should always maintain a well-considered balance of proportion and scale. New materials (think stone or metal) and façade details can be introduced but should interplay and easily connect with those of the original. Roofline details and angularity should be carefully integrated to avoid awkward architectural juxtapositions.

Budget is also a major consideration when determining how ambitious a custom home renovation or addition can be. The scope of the project will always be dictated by the available funds. To ensure your wishes align with cost, we always recommend engaging with a builder as early as the conceptual design phase to determine the high-level construction budget. And while it can be tempting to eschew a formal design process altogether to save on cost, doing so can result in everything from project delays to permit approval challenges. The success of the final build depends on it.

A Tudor-themed addition

Our Tudor Renovation case study perfectly captures the deft hand needed to enhance an existing design. Completed in 2016, the project brief called for a 500 sq. ft. addition to the second storey and rear of this stunning Tudor-style home in Toronto’s west end—bringing the final area to 2,600 sq. ft. With a setting in a mature neighbourhood, the design required an elegant, understated approach.
As such, we worked to ensure that the appearance of the addition closely adhered to the original Tudor-inspired style, capitalizing on the home’s distinctive history and character, while integrating a softer colour palette that delivered a subtle refresh with enhanced curb appeal. The existing gables and steep-pitched rooflines were carried into the addition to maintain proportioned massing. With its corner lot positioning, the result was both restrained and respectful of the original design, while meeting the owners’ need for extra space for their family.

Crucially, we were able to ensure that the home retained its sense of presence in the community, but with new features that only enhanced its allure and functional utility. Had this project been undertaken with the sole aim of adding more square footage, it would have likely fallen far short of its architectural potential. But with an approach steered by our custom home design team, we were able to create a truly special addition to the neighbourhood—one that will stand the test of time and ensure that a family can live and grow in its new space.

The David Small Design Team
Contact a member of our team today to learn more about our custom home and major renovation design process.

David Small Designs wins BILD Award for ‘Contemporary Living’

October 6, 2022/in News /by admin

The most important honour for an architectural design firm specializing in custom homes is to watch our clients fall in love with a new space for the first time. To know that we can play a key role in creating homes where families can live, grow, and thrive is beyond satisfying—it’s what drives us to create new and inspired designs.

Over the years, we’ve been grateful to have our work (either standalone, or in collaboration with our industry partners) acknowledged by a range of publications and industry organizations for design excellence and innovation. We’re very proud of this latest accolade for a home we’ve dubbed Contemporary Living, winner of the BILD TO Renovation & Custom Homes Awards 2022 for Best Custom Home over $2 million. Designed by our team and constructed by Profile Custom Homes, this modern residence is an open-concept homage to the most appealing features of contemporary living.

Achieving clean lines, while building unmistakable connections between outdoors and in, were two of the clients’ clearest project directives. They wanted to embrace the very best of modernity, while ensuring that David Small Designs’ Natural Modern ethos shone through every aspect of the interior and exterior spaces. Natural Modern is inspired by organic architecture, a school defined and perfected by iconic 20th century architect Frank Lloyd Wright. It draws on a home’s surrounding environment to influence all aspects of interior and architectural design. As such, it strives to ensure that custom homes are indelibly connected to the communities where they’re located, rather than standing apart, as can often be the case when design orthodoxy trumps environmental inclusiveness.

At 5,700 sq. ft. and completed in 2020, Contemporary Living was designed for a family of five that enjoys entertaining friends and family. They wanted an organized space, filled with light, and with ample room to live and thrive. In the end, the home makes a definitive statement about their goals and aspirations, while also being suitably warm and inviting. Ensuring the home nestled in snuggly with its neighbours—a community of largely traditional Greater Toronto Area dwellings—took extra thought and care.

Doing so meant tapping various architectural design tools and techniques, including the inclusion of a subtle roofline that played with variations in pitch to downplay the overall height of the building. Doing so added a sense of whimsy and dynamism that can be absent in some flat-topped modern homes. Natural stone and wood were incorporated as exterior elements to build strong connections to the natural elements of the adjacent landscape. That feeling of warmth and material familiarity helped to integrate Contemporary Living with its surroundings.

At the same time, our signature use of double height windows—to allow as much natural light as possible into the space—had the potential to create challenges in such a densely-fitted neighbourhood. To retain privacy, a distinctive stone landscape wall was constructed to limit sightlines into the main living space from adjacent sidewalks. Natural light can still readily find its way in, but the family can enjoy their time together without visual intrusion.

Of course, the project was brought to life by the outstanding construction team at Profile Custom Homes. Their work and focus on quality building is a hallmark of their service experience, and the key to realizing a modern custom home project like this one—a design style that often incorporates less-conventional features that can be challenging to build. On the interior, the client oversaw design, including finishings such as light, Scandinavian-inspired wood joinery in the kitchen and subtle hardwood flooring throughout, all to complement the natural wood-clad exterior. A stunning architectural fireplace and an earthy, neutral colour palette inside allow various architectural features to take centre stage. We particularly love the floating staircase and upper-level catwalk that allows the family and their friends to take in the space below.

Contemporary Living is a strong example of the close collaboration that occurs between our team, industry partners and our clients. By working to understand clients’ architectural vision, along with the way they live, play, and potentially work in their living space, we can help them create forever homes that speak to their unique lifestyle aspirations. By teaming with experienced and talented industry partners, we can make that vision a reality.

The David Small Design Team
Contact a member of our team today to learn more about our custom home design process.

Leveraging landscapes in the design process

Landscape mastery at work

The many considerations that bring an addition or renovation to life

A Tudor-themed addition

Design Matters