KMA Inc. Office
Toronto, Ontario
Kleinfeldt Mychajlowycz Architects

The architects' own studio is infused with equal amounts of work and play

© Jason Witalis

For more photos click on 'photos & drawings' above. To see the people and products behind this project click on 'people & products.'

This project involved the renovation of the building that houses the architects’ studio, a small gallery and a 800-square-foot home for its owners. The most prominent features to reinterpret were the staircases. The building’s exterior steel stair tower is both practical and iconic, playing with perceptions of scale and texturally contrasting with exterior elements: a simple, tripartite façade of solid wall; animated, translucent vents; and static, clear glazing. The interior stair, with split treads and segmented rail sections, is initially disconcerting, however, once mastered, the experience naturally culminates in a sense of accomplishment, like the first time down a slide. On the interior, an orange, monogrammed monolith wall rises up from the lower floor. This volume stabilizes the cut structure of the existing floor and gives the small, delicate stair an exaggerated scale and sense of permanence.

In explaining how they chose to design the space, the architects state, "The practice of architecture is a collaboration that is at once challenging, satisfying, frustrating, elating, sad and amusing and, not surprisingly, our place of practice accepts it all in a diverse and healthy environment."

Location:
Toronto, Ontario

Gross square footage:
2,420 sq. ft.

Owner:
Universal Habitat Inc.

Architect:
Kleinfeldt Mychajlowycz Architects Inc.
147 Portland Street
Toronto, Ontario, Canada, M5V 2N4
416-927-1992 (phone)
416-960-3940 (fax)
www.kma.to