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Pro Spotlight: 3 Steps to Remaking Your Home for Today
Owners of a Toronto architecture firm share how to refresh older spaces
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Who: Gary Westwood and Daniel Harland of Roundabout Studio
Where: Toronto
In Westwood’s own words: “We find it fulfilling to connect with clients, understand their needs and collaborate with them to realize their project dreams.”
Perhaps you entertain dozens of people and you need a bigger kitchen. Or maybe your home doesn’t have enough bathrooms for your family, or everything is brick and you’d like to add modern materials. “You don’t have to tear down your home and start with a blank slate,” says Daniel Harland, design director and co-owner with managing director Gary Westwood of Roundabout Studio in Toronto. “You can make older homes into beautiful, contemporary spaces that are inviting, comfortable and meet your specific needs.”
Where: Toronto
In Westwood’s own words: “We find it fulfilling to connect with clients, understand their needs and collaborate with them to realize their project dreams.”
Perhaps you entertain dozens of people and you need a bigger kitchen. Or maybe your home doesn’t have enough bathrooms for your family, or everything is brick and you’d like to add modern materials. “You don’t have to tear down your home and start with a blank slate,” says Daniel Harland, design director and co-owner with managing director Gary Westwood of Roundabout Studio in Toronto. “You can make older homes into beautiful, contemporary spaces that are inviting, comfortable and meet your specific needs.”
Photographs by Andrew Snow
Merging talents. Harland became an architect after briefly dabbling in zoology in college. “My father is a carpenter, my uncle is an architect and my grandfather was a plasterer,” he says. “Architecture was a homecoming for me.” Westwood, on the other hand, earned his degrees in business. “I have a passion for architecture, but I don’t have a creative bone in my body,” he says. The duo started Roundabout Studio in 2003 to bring together the best of their respective skill sets.
Merging talents. Harland became an architect after briefly dabbling in zoology in college. “My father is a carpenter, my uncle is an architect and my grandfather was a plasterer,” he says. “Architecture was a homecoming for me.” Westwood, on the other hand, earned his degrees in business. “I have a passion for architecture, but I don’t have a creative bone in my body,” he says. The duo started Roundabout Studio in 2003 to bring together the best of their respective skill sets.
Building on relationships. Since everyone lives in their homes differently, Harland works with clients to understand their particular needs and create a design that fits them just right. “My 10 years working as a bartender prepared me,” he says with a laugh. “It’s all about getting to know people and asking questions and listening to their answers.”
Ready to update your older home? Westwood and Harland share their tips below.
Ready to update your older home? Westwood and Harland share their tips below.
1. Take Stock of What You Have
Rather than starting from scratch, “consider what you can keep, whether it’s structural, cost efficiencies or zoning setbacks,” Harland says.
The owners of this 1900s home in Roncesvalles needed more kitchen space, along with an additional bath upstairs. Roundabout’s team restored the front of the house, then took out the whole back wall. A master suite, clad in cedar, now perches above the first floor. The ground floor was rebuilt out of the original salvaged brick as a nod to the past. “We wanted to put the old against the new in a complementary way so one didn’t overshadow the other,” Harland says.
See more of this project
Rather than starting from scratch, “consider what you can keep, whether it’s structural, cost efficiencies or zoning setbacks,” Harland says.
The owners of this 1900s home in Roncesvalles needed more kitchen space, along with an additional bath upstairs. Roundabout’s team restored the front of the house, then took out the whole back wall. A master suite, clad in cedar, now perches above the first floor. The ground floor was rebuilt out of the original salvaged brick as a nod to the past. “We wanted to put the old against the new in a complementary way so one didn’t overshadow the other,” Harland says.
See more of this project
2. Consider Your Lifestyle
Think about your needs and how you live, Westwood says, “whether you like to have big gatherings or you are a cozy family that prefers to sit and watch TV.”
A musician asked Roundabout to reimagine a former floral shop in Mount Pleasant into a home where he could live comfortably alone — and host gigs for 200. The kitchen and dining room have a clear view of the performance area below, and spaces interconnect so guests can mingle. But at the same time, a 20-foot skylight over the dining table adds definition to that space, as does the different floor treatment on each of the three stories so “it doesn’t feel like a big gym,” Harland says.
See more of this project
Think about your needs and how you live, Westwood says, “whether you like to have big gatherings or you are a cozy family that prefers to sit and watch TV.”
A musician asked Roundabout to reimagine a former floral shop in Mount Pleasant into a home where he could live comfortably alone — and host gigs for 200. The kitchen and dining room have a clear view of the performance area below, and spaces interconnect so guests can mingle. But at the same time, a 20-foot skylight over the dining table adds definition to that space, as does the different floor treatment on each of the three stories so “it doesn’t feel like a big gym,” Harland says.
See more of this project
3. Combine Aesthetics
Lastly, “find those contrasts between old and new and celebrate them,” Harland says.
Roundabout’s team created a comfortable, modern set of spaces to suit the owners’ style in this Riverdale semidetached home. They highlighted the shared wall’s age and patina by offsetting it with a sleek steel-and-glass staircase. A panel of Baltic birch plywood slides up all three floors, with silhouettes of swallows flying up toward the skylights.
See more of this project
More: For more information on Gary Westwood and Daniel Harland and examples of their team’s work, visit Roundabout Studio’s Houzz profile.
This story was written by the Houzz Sponsored Content team.
Lastly, “find those contrasts between old and new and celebrate them,” Harland says.
Roundabout’s team created a comfortable, modern set of spaces to suit the owners’ style in this Riverdale semidetached home. They highlighted the shared wall’s age and patina by offsetting it with a sleek steel-and-glass staircase. A panel of Baltic birch plywood slides up all three floors, with silhouettes of swallows flying up toward the skylights.
See more of this project
More: For more information on Gary Westwood and Daniel Harland and examples of their team’s work, visit Roundabout Studio’s Houzz profile.
This story was written by the Houzz Sponsored Content team.
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We have been working with Roundabout Studio for the past ten years. The firm is well known for its extraordinary, high-quality projects. They think outside of the box, which gives us new opportunities...More