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The Helman & Chapman Residence is located in the heart of Toronto. The renovation involved the conversion of the house from a triplex into a single family home. The first floor was gutted to open up the back half and create a large kitchen / eat-in / family room area. A more generous entry was also created along with a new staircase open to new skylights above. Existing exterior openings that needed to be blocked were carefully bricked in to blend with the existing brick. New window openings were created with brick arches to match the existing. A new master bedroom suite was created on the second floor with bedrooms and a shared bath on the third floor. As much of the existing solid oak flooring was salvaged and re-used as possible.
The renovation also involved replacing the entire hot water heating system with two forced air heating/cooling systems. One of the mechanical systems is located on the third floor with ducts located in the ceiling of the second floor feeding both up and down to serve both levels. The other system is located in the basement with ducts running under the first floor. The splitting of the house into two systems allows them to function more efficiently by putting the heat/cooling source closer to the end use. It also avoided the need for vertical ducts or risers which would have taken up floor space. Air conditioning is provided for the upper system only since this is where cooling is needed most and the cool air will tend to fall to the lower portion of the house.
Maximum thermal performance at the roof level is obtained by the installation of medium density spray polyurethane foam insulation between the rafters. This will provide energy savings when heating and cooling. Another energy saver is the use of a heat recovery unit on one of the main drains to capture some of the heat from hot water running down the drain.
Click on the images below for more on the project.
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