The landscape of the city’s east end terminates in one of the most striking landforms in the GTA, the Scarborough Bluffs. Development in this area of the city is contentious, vastly involving conservation and ecological concerns, historical and archaeological potentials, as well as practical considerations regarding the instability of the cliff edge. Site planning was carefully coordinated with a number of Authorities at the municipal, regional and provincial level to ensure that a responsible, transparent and respectful design solution was formulated.
The landscape on which the proposed house sits is constantly changing and eroding: 12,000 years ago layers of sediment were compacted under the weight of ice, only to be carved away as the glaciers retreated and the waters of ancient Lake Iroquois receded, the result is a shoreline of distinct mass formations separated by alluvial channels. It is a unique condition with which to imagine an architectural relationship to both the water and the crest of the Bluff.
