WAO (Wei Architecture & Objects Ltd.) wins 2024 Canadian Architect Award of Merit
WAO, an architecture and product design practice based in Toronto, led by Waterloo Architecture Sessional Lecturer, Harry Wei (BAS '12), has won a 2024 Canadian Architect Award of Merit.
The award was given to the project The Annex House, a response to new multi-unit living policies in Toronto. Proposing a 3-unit residential compound located in Toronto’s Annex neighborhood, the project examines the multiplex typology as an important tool for bolstering Toronto’s ‘missing middle’ housing stock.
The project is located in a residential neighborhood on the northwest edge of Downtown Toronto known as The Annex. It attracts a high concentration of students and young families due to its proximity to UofT, public parks, and public transit. Its urban fabric is characterized by long, narrow plots with laneway access at the back. The combination of its demographic profile, site conditions and a growing demand for gentle density makes it an ideal site for multiplex living.
While traditional models of multiplex have a tendency to focus solely on efficiency, the Annex House aims to strike a balance between efficient layout, distinct spatial qualities, and a sensitive mix of communal and private zones allowing residents to comfortably cohabitate.
Sessional Lecturer Harry Wei (BAS '12) is the founder of WAO
The project is designed with a unique character that minimizes visual impact from the street while prioritizing access to natural light for all the units, including the lower level.
WAO implemented four strategies to allow three distinct units to co-exist on the narrow Annex lot—all with privacy and surprisingly generous access to natural light. One: all primary living spaces in the main house’s two interlocking units and in the laneway unit face onto the shared courtyard. The more private orientation makes it possible for extra-large glazing units which maximize daylight and views. Two: a masonry perimeter wall wraps around the pathway that provides access to all three residences; this reinforces the semi-private character of the exterior common spaces and brings the two buildings together to form a unified architectural experience. Three: taking cues from the mansard roofs and dormer windows of the historic Annex homes, the entire upper volume of the main house reads as one vertically-stretched, dormer-set mansard on the street elevation. The mansard overhang provides shading for the large floor-to-ceiling windows and a canopy condition above all three entrance points. On the courtyard-facing elevations, balconies are carved into the sloping roofs of the main house and laneway suite; providing private exterior spaces for each unit. Four: working within building code restrictions that limit openings on the side facades, Annex House augments access to natural light by introducing an 8-metre-long skylight above a triple-height space, with openings on the adjacent rooms to maximize light penetration. Similarly, lightwells at both ends of the lower unit draw daylight into the basement-level spaces.
Since 1967, Canadian Architect has sponsored an annual national awards program recognizing projects in the design stage. Student Awards of Excellence are also awarded for final-year projects by Canadian architecture students.