Trinity Duplex with a Ramp

This Victorian house is a stone’s throw from Toronto’s great Trinity Bellwoods Park. It occupies a dense residential street that gives onto Dundas West, an eclectic high traffic transit and pedestrian corridor linking the neighborhood to the city centre.

The Toronto semi is characterized by its long and narrow body. The spaces are primarily felt in depth rather than width - this manifests as clear visual continuity through the buildings corridor. However, Denegri Bessai Studio widened the thresholds that delineate this depth. In this way we exaggerate the width of the enclosure to ensure ease of movement.

In close collaboration with owners dedicated to accessible urban living, Denegri Bessai Studio put forward a dynamic and multi-purpose ramp strategy that at once fits to the context of the dense urban streetscape, provide important urban program of bike and materials storage, and most importantly provides a pathway to assisted access to the front door and main floor beyond.