Rzlbd

A building is like a pile of books, which, being scaled and sized to our human body, is composed of horizontal platforms with consistent ceiling heights. A tall structure of three stories plus basement, Stack House is a playful expression of horizontal volumes, which are stacked on top of and cantilevered from each other. Borzu Talaie The stack is composed of three “blocks”. The lower block, containing the public programs, is finished in stucco. The middle block, containing the transitional programs, such as the multi-purpose room on the mezzanine level, is finished in charred wood. The upper block, containing the most private programs, such as the master bedroom and ensuite, is finished in metal paneling. While using stuc... More

Serene yet outrageous is the presence of Albers House in a typical residential street of Scarborough, Ontario. In its paradoxical behaviour, it both adapts to and resists against the existing conditions, performing very restricted yet radical transformation on the existing space and the neighbourhood.  Borzu Talaie Borzu Talaie Albers House is a renovation-addition project, in which the existing bungalow is fully renovated in the inside and a new second floor is added on top. Purging the existing house (i.e. removing any ancillary structures to the house) into its original shape, the genesis of the design process was the square footprint and the existing, off-centered interior staircase to maintain. Inspired by the square&md... More

As nature seeps through a crack of a stone, or as from a wound of one’s heart blooms a new, unforeseen joy and peace, a nameless empty room becomes a sanctuary, a small universe, where one’s soul can truly rest. Located near Scarborough Bluffs, the panoramic horizon of Lake Ontario, Out(side)In House offers a void that leads the inhabitants to see the inner horizon, suggesting life in its deeper meaning. Borzu Talaie   The house is broken indentedly at its center into two volumes, which are pulled apart and shuffled so that the breakages face the outside and the exterior walls face the central void. In this double-height atrium, natural light falls from the sky through a series of stepped clearstories, oriented to so... More

Our own human body reveals that beauty or health is symmetrical, balanced, and ordered. The smallest intervention project of Atelier RZLBD to date, the AK Room is a spatial experimentation of these values, converting a typical clinic room of an insignificant footprint (6’ by 10’) into one that transcends its physical boundary and inspires a deeper sense of well-being. Expressing the idea of “care” beyond clinical service, the room is composed of two symmetrical “hands” coming together from above and below, embracing a body in the very center. The materials of the ceiling (wood) and the floor (tile) extend on the two side walls up to the ribbon mirror in the middle, forming a U-shaped bottom and its counte... More

Twosome House is a two-storey, 540-square-metre Etobicoke home designed for a family of five. Following in the tradition of Louis I. Kahn, floor plans are defined by precise regulating lines. Two axes divide the property into distinct zones, with rooms plotted according to their program. This organization of “public/private” & “servant/served” spaces establishes a clear sense of order throughout the home. Borzu Talaie The first of the project’s dividing lines runs north to south. Upon approach, the structure presents as two distinct volumes: a stuccoed rectangular western block, and a square-shaped eastern wing clad in stone veneer. This two-part configuration separates family-oriented areas (kept to... More

The Mask House is a two-storey dwelling that grounds its presence by embracing juxtapositional qualities in order to set an example for its neighbourhood which is undergoing a rapid gentrification. Located at the Roncesvalles Village, in the west end of Toronto, the project was designed and built respecting the narrow elongated trapezoidal site, the limited budget, the very restricted Zoning & By-laws, and of course a demanding brief from the client. Yet, the outcome brings vivid energy, inspires renewal, and suggests possibilities that design can offer.   The façade may challenge the viewer to speculate a direct relation between manners of the exterior and the interior, assuming alikeness of aesthetics with ethics in rega... More

The house gazes at the street and the neighbourhood through the eyes of the two symmetrical windows, punctured on the mass cantilevered above the main floor, which resembles a face sneaking forward. Located at the Scarborough Junction, in the east end of Toronto, it was created respecting the narrow site, the restrictive budget, and all the speculations. Despite all these limitations, the house is like a curious creature; it contaminates its surrounding, made of typical Torontonian infill houses, with livelihood and inspires the possibility of design which belongs to everyone and everywhere.The Gazing House originates from the two squares divided by the central circulation axis. This abstract formal system establishes a sense of order which... More