Rosedale ‘Park’
Rosedale ‘PARK’ is a detached garage and fence structure designed for a residential property in an old Toronto community rich in trees and preserved parkland. Located on a busy corner lot, the owner’s requirements for the project were two fold. First, they wanted to manage views from passers-by into their private pool and entertainment areas while maintaining a connection to the ‘park-like’ public realm. Second, they wanted to include a place to park their car that wouldn’t jeopardize the natural character of the property or spoil one’s experience of the place. The idea was to use the new garage, fence, and landscaping together with the existing house, pool, and existing trees to create a particular sense of place for each of their anticipated activities, which included lounging by the pool, cooking, dining alfresco, and entertaining large groups of friends.
Using wood as the primary building material, the solution was to create a light, airy and luminous envelope around each component of the program that would provide separation without containment. At night, the fence becomes a large light fixture providing an ambient glow for both the private garden as well as the public sidewalk. In the end, aside from its quiet, modern expression, it is well-detailed, allowing it to be a pragmatic storage box, an elevated roof 'garden', a lantern at night, a threshold and place of occupation poolside for the owners.
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