V2 Laneway House

The V2 Laneway House is a rear lane secondary suite that has been designed to work within the newly approved Laneway Housing guidelines in the City of Toronto. The designs include a range of prefabricated homes, using individual elements fabricated by GRIPblock. These sticky metal frames can then be combined to produce properties ranging from 20 to 40 feet in width. The units are preassembled and then stacked in place on site, thereby reducing construction costs.

The laneway houses feature a range of one- or two-bedroom suites over a one or two (or no) car garage. Each unit floor has its own heating and cooling system and a combination of front and back of unit terraces, balconies or French balconies for passive cooling and access to sunlight. The building specifications allow a better than building code performance for energy requirements to minimize operating costs.

This project is an extension of the exploration of light draws that began in projects such as Roxborough House and Millbank House. The drawers are pulled up and out to capture atmospheres and thin, focused views, while capturing the subtle change in light throughout the day.