IN THE MATTER OF THE ONTARIO
HERITAGE ACT
R.S.O. 1990, CHAPTER O.18 AND
CITY OF TORONTO, PROVINCE OF ONTARIO
1007 CRAVEN ROAD
NOTICE OF INTENTION TO DESIGNATE
THE PROPERTY
TAKE NOTICE that Council for the
City of Toronto intends to designate the property, including the lands, buildings
and structures thereon known municipally as 1007 Craven Road under Part IV,
Section 29 of the Ontario Heritage Act, R.S.O. 1990, c.O.18, as amended, as a
property of cultural heritage value or interest.
Reasons for Designation
The property at 1007 Craven Road is worthy of designation under
Part IV, Section 29 of the Ontario Heritage Act for its cultural heritage
value, and meets Ontario Regulation 9/06, the provincial criteria prescribed
for municipal designation under the criteria of design and physical, historical
and associative, and contextual values.
Description
The property at 1007 Craven Road
is located on the east side of Craven Road, south of
Danforth Avenue, north of Hanson Street, west of Coxwell Avenue, and east of
Parkmount Road. It contains the Craven Road House (1993-96), a two-storey, wood
and cement-board clad building and the Craven Road Studio (2004-6) a
single-storey, wood-clad building which was designed as a garage as per
municipal approvals. The house and studio are owned by Robert G. Hill, who
commissioned Brigitte Shim and Howard Sutcliffe of Shim-Sutcliffe Architects
Inc. to realize the project. The green roof was added to the studio in 2007.
The House received a Governor General's Award in 1997 and the Studio received a
Governor General's Medal in 2010.
Statement of Cultural Heritage Value
Design and Physical Value
The Craven Road House and Studio and their
landscaped setting are representative of the Critical Regionalism style in
their "highly contextual approach to the creation of architecture"
and in their "penchant for typological invention."[1]
The Craven Road House reinvents a live-work space for a single person as a
blend of the Victorian cottage and the industrial loft types creating a unique,
and award-winning, world-renowned complex for its occupant. Similarly the Craven Road Studio adapts the
garage-ancillary outbuilding type as a private gallery and studio. Through a
series of strategies which are rooted in the principles of the context and with
a reinvention of its associated building typologies a new urban living
condition which maximizes landscaped open-space is created. In its location on
an unusual City of Toronto road which is partially a laneway in its origins and
character and in the redevelopment of formerly vacant and underused lots, the
house and studio represent a precedent for urban infill and densification creating
an uncharacteristic landscaped setting.
The Craven Road House displays a high degree of
artistic merit in its architectural planning with the creation of intimate
living spaces which are distinct from the grand and airy work spaces providing
a desirable place for its inhabitant to live and work. It also displays artistic merit in its
reinvention of the Victorian cottage-row type associated with the long narrow
lot on which it was originally located to maximize internal space, access to
sunlight through its setting close to the north edge of the lot and its
uncharacteristic side entrance which eliminates wasteful corridor space while
maximizing landscaped open-space. The
building demonstrates both a high degree of artistic merit and craftsmanship in
the design of the windows, in their varying scales, folded planes and
patterning of the mullions which indicate a hierarchy of interior spaces. The second floor window on the south-west
corner adds to the building's prominence on the street. The architectural
elements of the exterior including the massing with its recessed bays, the
cladding of horizontal siding associated with the Victorian cottage and the
large-scale, plywood panels associated with industrial loft spaces, and the use
of columns as expressive elements related to the movement of people display a
high degree of artistic merit. The
building displays a high degree of artistic merit and craftsmanship on the part
of the architects, the contractor and the client as they resolved the design
and construction of the building on a restricted budget through careful
planning and the selection of methods and material to produce an award-winning
and world-renowned live-work space proving that great architecture and
exceptional housing can be achieved on a tight budget.
The Craven Road Studio displays a high degree of
craftsmanship and artistic merit in its reinterpretation of an ancillary
building-garage typology to create an award-winning private gallery and studio
space dedicated to exhibition, display and research. The single volume space is enriched through
its section which includes a border of coffered sky-lights illuminating the
space with natural light and whose architectural expression correspond to the
thick walls of the studio which accommodate storage on two-sides. The recessed entry, adjacent bay window on
the west wall and long narrow window set in deep splayed recess on the north
wall add a rich spatial complexity to a single volume of space. The diffuse natural light set in the maple
clad coffers on all four walls is complimented by the view through the full
height tempered glass window facing the landscaped courtyard to the west and
the narrow view of the rear garden to the north of the studio. The combination of materials, polished concrete
floors, white walls, and maple-faced coffers extend the material palette of the
workspace in the house and provide a light and warm space in which to conduct
research and view exhibitions in all seasons.
On the exterior the use of large, stained, marine plywood panels with
the grain running horizontally[2]
relates the studio to the house, while the weathered cedar slats at the attic
level of the studio and on the fences, and the neighbours' garage creates a
cohesive backdrop to the open spaces.
The setting of the property at 1007 Craven Road,
containing the Craven Road House and Studio displays a high degree of artistic
merit through the placement of the house, the studio and the new garage,
constructed for the neighbours, to maximize the potential for a sequence of
landscaped open spaces which are viewed by the house and studio and contribute
to the amenity of Craven Road.
The Craven Road House displays a high degree of
technical achievement in its design and construction which were accomplished on
a restricted budget and achieve high architectural results from both an
artistic and functional standard. The
house also displays a high degree of technical achievement as following the
adoption of the Ontario Building Code in 1975, it was one of the first
structures in the City of Toronto to adopt a performance-based approach to
building cladding, specifying wood cladding with cement board on the north
façade providing the required two-hour fire resistance. In this way codes were
met, costs were reduced and architectural expression was achieved.
The Craven Road Studio displays a high degree of
technical achievement in the innovative design of its coffered skylights which
reduce ultra-violet glare which would be damaging to sensitive materials on display.
Historical and Associative Value
The property at 1007 Craven Road is valued for
its association with Robert G. Hill, the Chief Editor and Author of the
Biographical Dictionary of Architects in Canada 1800-1950 (BDAC), the
definitive resource for scholars and the public on the career and work of all
architects working in Canada from 1800-1950. Painstakingly researched for over
four decades, the BDAC is a free online database that provides detailed and
accurate documentation on the career and work of over 2,500 architects active
in Canada from 1800-1950, including foreign architects that have contributed to
the Canadian built environment. It also profiles over 85,000 buildings across
Canada. The BDAC remains unmatched as a resource on architect-designed
buildings in Canada and presently receives over 5,000 hits per month from all
over the world.
Hill's contribution to the field
of architectural history are vast and he has received numerous honours and
awards throughout his career including the Architectural Technologists Alumni
Award, the Toronto Architectural Guild Medal, the CMHC Travelling Scholarship,
the Goulstone Fellowship in Architecture, the Architectural Conservancy of
Ontario's (ACO) Eric Arthur Lifetime Achievement Award (2016), the Ontario
Association of Architects (OAA) Order of da Vinci Medal (2012), and he became a
Fellow of the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada in 2011.
Designed by Shim-Sutcliffe Architects Inc. the
Craven Road House and Studio reflect the work and ideas of the partnership of
Brigitte Shim and Howard Sutcliffe particularly in its commitment to
place-making in its response to the context and creation of a lush landscaped
outdoor spaces as well as in its commitment to urban infill and the
intensification and densification of cities while enhancing the quality of
neighbourhoods. The design of both the
house and the studio reflect the partnership's innovative approach to
architectural briefs while creating carefully planned spaces which are made
more beautiful through the nuanced use of natural light and a variety of views,
extending the expressive potential of materials, and imbuing their projects
with a high level of craftsmanship.
Members of the Order of Canada and awarded with the RAIC Gold medal, the
Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal and 15 Governor General's Awards and
Medals for their work as architects, educators and advocates, with a body of
work that has been widely published and exhibited, as well as being the subject
of a documentary film, nationally and internationally, there can be no doubt of
their significance and not only to the architectural community. Published over 38 times, after 25 years, the
Craven Road House continues to be a requested case study house by architecture
students from around the world.
Contextual Value
The development of the property at 1007 Craven
Road with the modestly scaled, wood-clad, two-storey house and single-storey
studio reinforces the character and built form of the street by maintaining
set-backs, scale and massing of the mix of houses and garages that line Craven
Road. In the careful development of the
landscaped open spaces on the property, it contributes a well-treed mid-block,
green lung which enhances the quality of the street's environment.
Located on the east side of Craven Road, the
subject property at 1007 Craven Road is physically, functionally, visually, and
historically linked to its surroundings. Historically known as Erie Terrace
prior to the renaming of the street to Craven Road in 1924, the subject
property is reflective of the historic configuration of this narrow laneway,
which contained properties with frontages only on the east side of the street
from Danforth Avenue to Queen Street East. This unique configuration comprising
the street remains largely in-tact today on Craven Road from Danforth Avenue to
Hanson Street.
The Craven Road House and Studio are
architectural landmarks of cultural significance for their contribution to
design excellence in Canada and globally.
Recognized by the professional architectural community with a Governor
General's Award (house) and Medal (studio) and widely published in
architectural journals and anthologies in North America and Europe, they are
meaningful to the community and are widely renowned as they represent a high
standard of excellence for their aesthetic qualities but also for their
technical and typological inventiveness and for achieving this within a limited
budget for a client with restricted means and an ambitious and specific program. For these reasons they are landmarks which
are culturally rather than geographically significant.
Heritage Attributes
Design and Physical Value
The following heritage attributes of the Craven
Road House contribute to the cultural heritage value of the property at 1007
Craven Road as a representative of Critical Regionalism and as they display a
high degree of artistic merit and craftsmanship:
Exterior Attributes
Interior Attributes
The following heritage attributes of the Craven
Road Studio contribute to the cultural heritage value of the property at 1007
Craven Road as a representative of Critical Regionalism and as they display a
high degree of artistic merit and craftsmanship:
Interior Attributes
Views
·
The views of the
landscaped courtyard to the west and the window and view to the rear garden to
the north which connect the interior with the exterior
The following heritage attributes of the setting
and landscaping contribute to the cultural value of the property at 1007 Craven
Road as a representative of Critical Regionalism:
·
The setback,
placement and orientation of the house and studio on the property creating a
sequence of landscaped outdoor spaces
·
The 8 river birch
trees
·
The weather cedar
strip fence along with west and south edges of the property studio as an
ancillary building on the rear eastern property line and adjacent to the
walkway which connects the neighbour's property on 622 Rhodes Avenue with their
single-car garage facing Craven Road as an expression of the reinvention of the
typology and as enhancement of context and landscape associated with Critical
Regionalism
Contextual Value
The following heritage attributes contribute to
the cultural heritage value of the property at 1007 Craven Road as it defines,
maintains and supports the character of an area:
·
The placement,
setback and orientation of the property which supports the character of the
area as it is characterized by small-scale residential and industrial buildings
of 1-3 stories in height and by single-storey garages which have lined Craven
Road, particularly on the west side
·
The use of wood
siding and plywood panels which related to the Victorian cottages and small
industrial buildings and garages which characterize Craven Road
The following heritage attributes contribute to
the cultural heritage value of the property at 1007 Craven Road as it is
physically, functionally, visually, and historically linked to its
surroundings:
·
The building types of
house and studio, and their placement on the property relates to the diverse
development of Craven Road over the past 100 years as it was partially lined
with garages and used as a laneway for properties facing the adjacent Rhodes
Avenue and Parkmount Road, and was partially lined with residential development
on the east side of the road
The following heritage attributes contribute to
the cultural heritage value of the property at 1007 Craven Road as it is a
landmark:
·
The property with its
weathered, cedar fence, two-storey, red, siding and plywood panel-clad house
with its dramatic window overlooking the street and its studio with its grass
roof and volumetric massing and glazing and weathered cedar slats are together
a cultural landmark in the global body of architecture and for all those who
are devoted to finding innovative and beautifully-designed modern architecture
Notice of Objection to the Notice of Intention to Designate
Notice of an objection to the Notice of
Intention to Designate the Property may be served on the City Clerk, Attention:
Administrator, Secretariat, City Clerk's Office, Toronto City Hall, 2nd Floor
West, 100 Queen Street West, Toronto, Ontario, M5H 2N2; Email: hertpb@toronto.ca within thirty days of November 18, 2021, which is December 20, 2021.
The notice of objection to the Notice of Intention to Designate the Property
must set out the reason(s) for the objection and all relevant facts.
Getting Additional Information:
Further information in respect of the Notice of
Intention to Designate the Property is available from the City of Toronto at:
http://app.toronto.ca/tmmis/viewAgendaItemHistory.do?item=2021.PH27.10
Dated at the City of Toronto on November 18, 2021.
John D. Elvidge
City Clerk