This private residence built for a mathematician has become renown since it was completed. Sitting at the edge of a Rosedale ravine, it reads as two storeys from the street, but reaches five storeys at the rear. The interior includes a 150-seat concert space, reception areas, a two-bedroom apartment and a stairwell composed of hand-blown laminated blue glass rectangles supported by cast bronze clips and stainless steel cables, among other features. The exterior is wrapped in vertical glass and oak fins that provide shade (and improve acoustic qualities within), and the house is heated and cooled by geothermal pipes. A green roof adds to the sustainable, energy efficient features. Integral House took six years to build, on account of the curves that respond to the owner's mathematical passion.
Shim Sutcliffe Architects
