Project Facts
Client
Casey House
Location
Toronto, ON
Status
Completed 2017
Size
59,000 Sq. Ft.
Partner
The renovation and extension to Casey House, a specialized healthcare facility for individuals with HIV/AIDS, meets the needs of patients and healthcare providers in a setting designed to evoke the experience and comforts of home. With a new Day Health Program servicing a roster of 200 registered clients and 14 new inpatient rooms, the 59,000 square foot addition brings much needed space and modernized amenities to augment and renovate the heritage-designated Victorian mansion. The new structure embraces the existing building, preserving its qualities and organizing day-to-day user experience around a new landscaped central garden court.
This open space is a fundamental part of the design and is the heart of the facility, visible from every corridor and each of the inpatient rooms. Through operable windows that allow for fresh air and cross-ventilation, every inpatient enjoys an unobstructed garden view from their bed. The windows flood patient spaces with natural light and provide a connection to the outside world, making the hospital feel like a home. Sustainable design elements include high efficiency tinted glass, rainwater collection cisterns and locally sourced materials. The project has been honoured with a Governor General’s Medal in Architecture (2018), National Urban Design Award (2020), AIA Healthcare Design Award (2017), and Canadian Architect Award of Excellence (2013) for its high design and respect for client welfare.
Project Facts
Client
Casey House
Location
Toronto, ON
Status
Completed 2017
Size
59,000 Sq. Ft.
Partner
Select Awards
2020 – National Urban Design Awards - Award of Excellence, Urban Architecture
2019 – American Institute of Architects (AIA) Institute Honor Award
2018 – Royal Architectural Institute of Canada (RAIC) Governor General Medal in Architecture
2013 – Canadian Architect Award of Excellence
Recent Press
Original Sketches by Siamak Hariri
Original Sketches by Siamak Hariri
With the fundamental goal of creating a comfortable, home-like user experience, the embrace emerged as a unifying theme — one of warmth, intimacy, comfort, privacy, connectivity, and solidity. Referring to the goals of Casey House, it also describes the design of the architectural form, the user experience, and the atmosphere in the building itself.
With the fundamental goal of creating a comfortable, home-like user experience, the embrace emerged as a unifying theme — one of warmth, intimacy, comfort, privacy, connectivity, and solidity. Referring to the goals of Casey House, it also describes the design of the architectural form, the user experience, and the atmosphere in the building itself.
The façade of Casey House, consisting of a palette of various brick, heavily tinted mirrored glass, and crust-faced limestone, is highly particularized and rich, and becomes the architectural manifestation of the quilt - a symbolic expression of the battle against HIV/AIDS.
The façade of Casey House, consisting of a palette of various brick, heavily tinted mirrored glass, and crust-faced limestone, is highly particularized and rich, and becomes the architectural manifestation of the quilt - a symbolic expression of the battle against HIV/AIDS.
Beautifully landscaped and alive, the courtyard is the ever-present symbol of life-affirming green, water, and light and is visible from every corridor and in-patient room, allowing direct sunlight into the core of the building on all floors.
Beautifully landscaped and alive, the courtyard is the ever-present symbol of life-affirming green, water, and light and is visible from every corridor and in-patient room, allowing direct sunlight into the core of the building on all floors.
Once inside, the experience is about engagement of the old and new, and the organization — the embrace — around the courtyard.
Once inside, the experience is about engagement of the old and new, and the organization — the embrace — around the courtyard.
The central gathering space, featuring a two-storey atrium, is anchored by a full-height fireplace crafted from Algonquin Limestone. A bridge connects the heritage and new spaces on the second floor where light from large windows fills the warm gathering space below.
The central gathering space, featuring a two-storey atrium, is anchored by a full-height fireplace crafted from Algonquin Limestone. A bridge connects the heritage and new spaces on the second floor where light from large windows fills the warm gathering space below.
A detail of the quilt-like façade on the Isabella Street frontage.
A detail of the quilt-like façade on the Isabella Street frontage.
Select Awards
2020 – National Urban Design Awards - Award of Excellence, Urban Architecture
2019 – American Institute of Architects (AIA) Institute Honor Award
2018 – Royal Architectural Institute of Canada (RAIC) Governor General Medal in Architecture
2013 – Canadian Architect Award of Excellence
