The Flipped House is designed to be a contemporary, turnkey residential home nestled on the south-west edge of the Knob-Hill Park where the neighbourhood is dominated by more traditional architecture. The elevated terrain usually afford a higher degree of privacy rather than flat land. During the overhaul, the architect added a second-storey to the already existing brick bungalow and “flipped” with private areas like bedrooms sequestered upstairs.

The floor configuration features two zones; the kitchen, dining space  and living rooms are all situated on the ground level with public-facing views. While the private zone on other side of the vertical plane consists of three bedrooms spanning across two levels of the building’s more secluded southwestern end.

In addition, the architect has created soaring indoor spaces – one large window is installed in the pop-out volume that makes it the focal point of the living room, and all of the main-floor and basement windows are carried over from the original structure.

Enter the hallway, the linked first-floor kitchen and dining room are double-height, making the soaring spaces feel grand and luxurious, especially when there’s sufficient light pouring in. A view from the top, shows the dining space to one side and the kitchen to the other, the architects played with interesting architectural feature to emphasise “the home’s secondary axis along its key circulation route.”

Cedar slats are used to create opportunities for the linked kitchen and dining room for a sense of warmth and grandiosity – a feeling further illuminated by the skylight permeating the internal spaces through the visually large transparent panel to otherwise darkened spaces.

On the first floor, there’s long black light track fitted to the ceiling, which makes a satisfying connection with the linearity of the path. Moving inwards, the residence offers glimpses of the more intimate back bedrooms.

A modern house even with a minimal interior decoration does work with almost any kind of furniture. Pictured above, the area of interest/reading nook is also a perfect place to sit down, do little and just relax over a cup of cappuccino.

The family room is located upstairs but to get there, one has to go pass the bridge passageway. There’s also a home office at the bridge’s other end and is sufficient to accommodate a desk space for two, making the entire space reads as one airy volume. Elsewhere, the master bedroom features a walk-in closet, his-and-hers skylights and an ensuite with a bathtub positioned in front of a generous window.

Throughout, the project played with geometric volumes to successfully create boundaries between its various spaces – a clear transition is further played up by the oak floor.

The exterior maintained the brick enclosure of its predecessor – now painted black – exemplifying a more intense and fortified abode to balance with the home’s warm, light-soaked interiors.

With solutions made easy and using only sustainable construction materials, the house required no excavation, making it more affordable than a design that would have required demolition and starting a build from scratch.