Location: Winnipeg, Canada
Type: Addition / Renovation
Year: 2009

After about 70 years of standing as one of Wellington Crescent’s most beautiful brick facades, this stately home was added to on both sides, and thoroughly modernized on the inside. This massive investment of time and energy was motivated by the new owner’s desire to make a comfortable and stylish home for his young family in Canada. Immigrating to Canada from Europe, the new residents brought their sense of style as well as several containers full of construction materials, furniture, and fixtures. The local design team worked hard to integrate local materials with imported systems.

The design presents a subtle dialogue between new and old, where the original is treated with deference while the new is differentiated in various ways. The existing house was stripped down to the studs to allow the new additions to be well-integrated. The new forms of the additions were designed as simplified versions of the original house, and are rendered in a smooth acrylic stucco, of a colour that is harmonious with the original brick facade. A new cedar shake roof with copper gutters and downspouts, covers the entire composition, uniting new and old.