Upcycled House

How do we renovate a house while making it look as though it was built that way all along? The answer is with sensitivity. This 1970s midtown house is a modernist gem. However it needed some upgrades in order to be functional for a modern family. Our clients needed more bedrooms, a bigger kitchen, a home office, and new finishes to ensure that the house feels fresh. But while implementing these enhancements and contemporary conveniences, the couple’s top priority was to maintain the house’s distinct modernist character.

Delivering on our clients’ spatial needs meant making adjustments to the layouts, such as removing the walls that separated the kitchen from the dining/living space, and repurposing an en-suite den into a third bedroom. But to truly bring their vision to life, we focused on distinctive materials and details. We gave the house an overall consistency, using period-appropriate materials with different colours or treatments, and uniform hardware and lighting throughout. We chose terrazzo, for example, for its distinctly vintage associations, but also its variability in colour and scale. Employed as flooring, bathroom tiling, and even the kitchen backsplash, terrazzo creates a playful motif that aligns with the underlying design concept. In the living room, we planned lighting alignments and built in cabinetry around our clients’ vintage furniture collection, ensuring that the space reflects their appreciation for the precision and order that defined modernist design. The new bathrooms and kitchen are practical and durable for a young family while adding a stylish new character that respects the original design ethos.

Upcycled House is a playful interiors project that demonstrates our studio’s ability to make every detail count. The project is as much a restoration as it is a renovation, preserving the boldness of an experimental design while executing practical rearrangements of spaces and disciplined detailing to make it functional for the next generation.