Canadian studio Aleph-Bau has overhauled an urban residence in Toronto, creating a bright white facade and adding a sculptural rooftop volume wrapped in aluminium.

Called Twelve Tacoma, the home is located in the Summerhill neighbourhood in central Toronto. It is situated on a street lined with 19th-century workers' rowhouses known for their coloured brick facades and front porches.
Mindful of the project's context and working within strict zoning regulations, the team painted the townhouse white and added a rooftop extension clad in corrugated aluminium ? resulting in "distinctly elegant" modifications to the traditional dwelling.

"Certain details, like the simple front railing and plexiglass awning over the door, mimic the ordinary signifiers of the neighbouring homes, but with a decidedly contemporary bent," said Aleph-Bau, a Toronto-based studio. "[The] project amplifies the sensory, imaginative and intellectual relationship to traditional architecture in an intense dialogue with its urban context and surrounding natural elements."

The rooftop extension, which is barley visible from the street, is composed of a sculptural unit in the front and rectilinear box in the rear that slightly cantilevers over the backyard. To physically support the addition, the team introduced a new steel structure to the wood-framed townhouse.
The 114-square-metre residence contains a kitchen, dining room and living area on the ground level, and a master su...