Sudden
Weekly report this as as the 'castle' that tycoon billionaire Richard Li bought
for mother of his son, Ethan Li. -
2009 June 12 In
fact, they are referring to award-winning penthouse
太太
developed for
'The Chief' which was deemed to be "Best in Canada" by Canadian
Interior Magazine in 2001.
Marshall: The
penthouse suite is a 9 out of 10.
Simone: It
could have had more textures, be more tactile.
Muller: The
penthouse residence is stunning, but I’ve seen that before. Whenever I
open Architectural Digest, I’ll see one of these penthouses.
Menchions: It’s
stunning. I love it. The effect is great with those clear lines and the
pillar.
Everyone: We
love it.
DISTINCTION:
Best of Canada 2001 -
Project Winners
Best of show
Article
by Martha Uniacke Breen
Serene minimalism
Waterfront penthouse apartment,
Toronto
Kuwabara Payne McKenna Blumberg Architects, Toronto
Photography by Robert Burley / Design
Archive
|
 
Massive
wood frames structure the two-storey view over the water: in
winter, they warm the icy scene, while easing the transition
from interior to exterior in the summer.
The
rhythm of the walnut staircase provides one of architect
Bruce Kuwabara’s favourite visual events in the waterfront
residence.
Amidst
the rigorous spareness, subtle signs of life such as a
comfortable, beautifully designed shower stool give the
space its mysterious humanity.
.
|
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"A lot of people talk about
minimalism and follow that whole philosophy," says Bruce Kuwabara, a
partner in Kuwabara Payne McKenna Blumberg Architects. "But the real
difficulty is to keep a sense of warmth and humanity." The
3,500-square-foot penthouse on the Toronto lakeshore that Kuwabara and his
team designed balances strict Modernist ideals with the human need for
warmth and comfort.
KPMB’s structures are familiar to
anyone who shops at Indigo Books at Yonge and Eglinton, has attended any one
of half a dozen Canadian universities, or, heaven forbid, spent a little
soft time in Kingston’s Grand Valley minimum-security prison. The firm’s
long list of credits is crowned by seven Governor-General’s Awards, most
of them projects with Kuwabara’s direct involvement.
For the penthouse, Kuwabara, partner
Shirley Blumberg and Caroline Lee, Paul Rocha and interior designer Karen
Petrachenko brought the two-storey space back to its bones. They started
over with two central ideas.
First, they would bridge the visual
transition from interior to open water by surrounding the two-storey windows
in massive teak frames. Indeed, wood – teak, oak, walnut, maple –
appears throughout, lending a natural warmth to the ascetic spareness of the
interior.
Next, as Kuwabara explains, "We were
interested in structuring the spatial experience." The layout was
organized around a single, monolithic structure in the centre containing
kitchen, bathrooms and a grand walnut staircase, with communal spaces such
as living and dining areas arranged loosely around the perimeter.
Kuwabara particularly admires the
staircase, which rises majestically, perpendicular to the entrance, through
the centre of the space. "I don’t like very steep staircases. The
cadence of a staircase should always be easy and graceful. I love the rhythm
of this one, with its uniform wood treads and risers."
The master bedroom occupies a mezzanine
overlooking the main floor, so light, privacy and noise were issues.
Sliding, shoji-style glass screens framed in light maple offer a choice
between enclosure and openness.
Maple was chosen in response to the
changing face of Lake Ontario. "In winter, the view is stark and very
beautiful, but cold, so the maple frame returns a sense of warmth."
In fact, seasonal temperature variations
inform the orientation of the unit as a whole. In summer, open doors to the
deck direct the emphasis naturally toward the east. In winter, the focus
shifts to the south side, toward the fireplace and the wood-framed windows.
A restricted palette of simple materials,
including pale limestone, slate and stainless steel, keeps the eye focused
on the simple geometric motifs that repeat through the space. There are the
stacked rectangles of the sliding screens, the massive window framing, and
the lines and planes of the staircase.
"One of the things we’re
interested in is the discipline, the rigour, of controlling detail. It’s a
real complexity to make things simple while supporting the client’s
lifestyle." - CANADIAN
INTERIORS
One of our profitable developments and
award-winning [for architectural merit] and most important, a happy client.
