34 UDG Repl Hsng Gdel (form NY) · URBAN DESIGN GUIDELINES June 2004 REPLACEMENT HOUSING GUIDELINES TORONTO Replacement housing in the former City of North ... standardize design;

June 2004URBAN DESIGN GUIDELINES

REPLACEMENT HOUSING GUIDELINES

TORONTO

Replacement housing in the former City of NorthYork will be consistent with the following urbandesign guidelines. They provide a framework forresidential re-development in the former City ofNorth York and are to be read in conjunction withthe urban design policies in the Official Plan.

LOCATIONThroughout the former City of North York.

GUIDELINESINTRODUCTIONThe Replacement Housing Design Guidelines areintended to ensure that new developments arecompatible with, and enhance existing neighbourhoods.The guidelines will provide a positive direction forfuture replacement housing by promoting a contextualresponse that supports architectural and streetscapecontinuity, while allowing for and encouragingdiversity.

The design guidelines will be used to evaluateproposals for single family replacement dwellingsand provide information to architects, developers,landscape architects and residents.

The guidelines deal with issues such as context,massing, appropriate scale and articulation of thefront façade, as well as siting issues that includeplacement and width of driveways, walkways, retainingwalls, and landscaping. For each issue, the guidelinesstate a design principle that is supported by specificguidelines. ‘Preferred’ and ‘Not Preferred’ examplesare provided for each principle and guideline.

The guidelines have been divided into two majorcomponents.

‘Site Organization and Amenity’ addresses issuesrelated to driveways, fences, and hard and softlandscaping features.

The ‘Building Massing and Architectural Design’section gives direction for the massing and exteriortreatment of proposed replacement houses.

URBAN DESIGN GUIDELINESTORONTO


SITE ORGANIZATION AND AMENITYSites can be organized and designed to support andenhance the local environment and to create ormaintain a pleasant and comfortable streetscape. Inneighbourhoods, the front yards and side yards provideopportunities for landscaping that can be seen fromthe public realm of streets, parks and open spaces.While adding to a comfortable pedestrian environmentand visual amenity, landscaping also improves theenvironmental quality of a neighbourhood. For thesereasons, large paved areas will be discouraged orminimized, and soft landscaping opportunitiesmaximized in yards visible to the street.

Front Yard Landscaping

Principle

Front yard landscaping provides visual interest,supports streetscape continuity and reinforces thenatural environment within neighbourhoods. Frontyard landscaping that pays attention to the quality,quantity and location of plant material will help toachieve compatibility with the existing neighbourhoodand enhance the local streetscape.

Design Guideline

Provide a variety of trees and shrubs in the frontyard to support and enhance the streetscape.

June 2004

Not Preferred

Preferred

June 2004

Rear and Side Yard Landscaping

Principle

Rear and side yard landscaping that includes trees,shrubs and fences can provide screening andbuffering between residential lots. Intensive plantingusing large sized tree and shrub planting togetherwith fencing can provide an appropriate transitionand a visual buffer between existing and newdevelopment, reducing or ameliorating overview ofnew houses on existing dwellings. The plant speciesselection and size of plant material used, as well asthe spacing between plants will be suitable for theirtype and the desired landscaping effect.

Design Guideline

Provide and maintain sufficient landscaping in theside and rear yards to reduce the impacts of heightand mass of new developments and reduce overview.

URBAN DESIGN GUIDELINES


TORONTO

Not Preferred

Preferred

June 2004 URBAN DESIGN GUIDELINESTORONTO


Tree Preservation

Principle

Mature trees on public and private property areimportant to the character, identity and the visualquality of a neighbourhood. The trees soften andcomplement the pavement and buildings, andcontribute to the existing ‘urban forest’. Treepreservation supports streetscape continuity andcontributes to a pleasant neighbourhoodenvironment.

Design Guideline

Encourage tree preservation to maintain thecharacter of the neighbourhood and in keeping withthe City’s Tree Protection Policy.

Not Preferred

Preferred



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Hard Surfaces

Principle

On a residential lot where the front walkway anddriveway are contiguous, the front yard appears tobe dominated by pavement or hard surfaces. It isbetter to provide a soft landscaped strip betweenthe walkway and the driveway. This softens the viewof the large hard surfaces on the streetscape andalso adds some visual interest.

Design Guideline

Provide a landscaped strip between the driveway andthe walkway in order to soften the appearance oflarge paved areas.

Not Preferred

Preferred



Retaining Walls

Principle

Retaining walls along downward sloping drivewaysemphasize the severity of the slope and have anegative impact on the visual quality of thestreetscape. The Ontario Building Code requiresguards (ie. railings/walls) where retaining walls arehigher than 0.6m. Generally, railings rather thanelevated retaining walls are preferred alongdriveways. Sloping driveways can also be improvedby replacing at least one of the retaining walls withlandscaped slopes or stepped planters. These designmeasures can soften the appearance of downwardsloping driveways on the streetscape.

Design Guideline

Avoid retaining walls along both sides of a slopingdriveway and encourage that at least one side of thedriveway has stepped planters or a landscaped slopeinstead.

Not Preferred

Preferred



TORONTO

Side by Side Driveways

Principle

Side by side garages and driveways on abutting lotsresult in large paved areas that have a negativeeffect on the streetscape. Landscaped areas betweenadjacent double driveways are desirable as theyreduce the effect of large hard surfaces on theoverall streetscape.

Design Guideline

Avoid side by side driveways and garages andencourage a landscape strip between two adjacentdriveways.

Not Preferred

Preferred



Driveway Width

Principle

The width of a double, or larger, driveway mayimpact negatively on the streetscape. A reduction inthe width of a driveway where it crosses the publicboulevard, and its replacement with soft landscaping,will help reduce its visual impact on the streetscape.There are cases where the paved area could also bereduced on private property without affecting theease of car movement. These areas could be plantedto further improve the streetscape. In some instances,a reduction in the width of a driveway could also beused as an effective measure for the protection ofstreet trees.

Design Guideline

Reduce the width of the driveway in the publicboulevard and, where possible, on the lot, andreplace the paved area with soft landscaping.

Not Preferred

Preferred



TORONTO

Circular Driveways

Principle

Circular driveways are discouraged on lots narrowerthan 18m (60’). In many instances, the large pavedareas and the curb cuts resulting from circulardriveways, prevent the planting of street trees atregular intervals. This situation can be improved bylandscaping the area surrounded by driveways. Theplanted island will help improve the appearance ofpavement and building and also create visualinterest along the street.

Design Guideline

Encourage landscaping in the island surrounded by acircular driveway and connect it visually to plantingalong the base of the house.

Not Preferred

Preferred



Sloping Driveways

Principle

Downward sloping driveways are often used onsmaller lots where the garage has been depressedbelow grade in order to maintain a useable groundfloor. Sloping driveways often lead to safetyproblems as views when backing out onto the streetmay be limited. They also disrupt streetscapecontinuity by creating a ‘moat’ effect along thehouse frontages.

Design Guideline

Discourage downward sloping driveways. Not Preferred

Preferred



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BUILDING MASSING AND ARCHITECTURALDESIGNExisting and new developments can successfullycoexist, if there is some visual continuity and anappropriate fit or transition in scale, building formand proportion.

A unified community image is supported andenhanced by the use of common building designelements, which include building mass and style,facade treatment, materials, texture, colour anddetail. When the existing community’s designelements are repeated or complemented by the newdevelopment, a positive image of the community iscreated.

The use of similar elements is not intended to createa monotonous repetition of structures or tostandardize design; rather, it is to create a designvocabulary that makes visual references to theexisting neighbourhood context while encouragingdiversity and originality.



Second Storey Stepbacks

Principle

Stepping back a portion of the second storey of ahouse back from the lower floor is often a goodmethod of articulating a new house with a sizeablefront facade by ‘breaking up’ the building mass andreducing its apparent size.

Design Guideline

Encourage second storey stepbacks, whereappropriate.

Not Preferred

Preferred



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Not Preferred

Preferred

Facade Projections

Principle

New houses with sizeable front facades that presentlarge, flat areas are often considered to be poorlydesigned. The use of projections is a way ofarticulating the front facade and creating bettermassing. Building components such as bay windowsand front porches can be used to ‘break up’ largeflat facade areas and reduce a massive appearance.

Design Guideline

Encourage the use of bay windows, canopies, smallroofs and other similar projections.



Finishes

Principle

New dwellings should complement an establishedneighbourhood. Careful consideration of the detailsand character of the neighbourhood is needed toachieve a harmonious fit between existing and newdevelopment. Materials used in a new building thatare responsive to the context will help preservevisual continuity.

Design Guideline

Encourage the use of details and materialscompatible with existing homes in theneighbourhood. Not Preferred

Preferred



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Not Preferred

Preferred

Base Treatment

Principle

High quality materials are to be used on buildingfacades visible to the public realm. Exposed concreteblock or concrete is often left as the base of ahouse. Efforts will be made to provide brick ortreatment similar to the rest of the facade in orderto provide a finished base to a new dwelling.

Design Guideline

Provide brick or similar masonry base treatmentwithin 200mm (8”) to 300mm (12”) from finishedgrade and step it to follow sloping grades whererequired.



Corner Lots

Principle

New dwellings on corner lots can blendharmoniously with the existing houses on bothstreets if their massing, facades and other featuresare articulated to reflect the existing context andnot overwhelm it. Appropriate treatment of facadesthat respect both streets promotes an improvedstreetscape and a better fit in the neighbourhood.

Design Guideline

Encourage well-articulated façade treatments on bothstreet frontages for houses situated on corner lots.

Not Preferred

Preferred



TORONTO

Not Preferred

Preferred

Side and Rear Elevations

Principle

Blank, unarticulated walls are to be avoided. Detailsand texture in the side and rear elevations willprovide visual interest, especially when the housesback or flank onto open spaces. Bay windows,windows and decorative treatments are to beincluded in the side or rear elevations whereverpossible to provide attractive views from the street,open spaces or neighbouring properties.

Design Guideline

Provide high quality treatments and detailing for therear and side facades of houses, especially those thatback or flank onto parks, accessible open spaces, orneighbouring properties.



Roof Configuration

Principle

In many cases, the extensive, uninterrupted roofs ofnew houses produce a discordant relationship withexisting buildings. Structures with large roof areasoften become excessively bulky in appearance anddo not fit into the surroundings. Variations in theroof slope often minimize the appearance of themass of a large house.

Design Guideline

Encourage variations in the roof slope within agiven roof to reduce the scale of the development.

June 2004

Not Preferred

Preferred

Visual Continuity

Principle

New buildings should be sympathetic to the formand proportion of existing houses. This can often beachieved by repeating, or making appropriate visualreferences to existing building lines and surfacetreatments. Large surfaces can be articulated byincorporating a roofline from the adjacent dwellingsinto the proposed structures.

Design Guideline

Incorporate rooflines and surface treatments fromabutting structures onto the new house to integratewith the surrounding houses.



TORONTOJune 2004

Not Preferred

Preferred



Double Garage Doors

Principle

In general, double garage doors dominate the mainfacades of a house and increase the impact of ahouse’s mass. In many cases, dividing the width of adouble car garage door with a pilaster, and the useof two doors instead of a wide double door, reducesthe visual impact of a garage on the streetscape.

Design Guideline

Divide double garage doors into two single doors,wherever possible.

June 2004

Not Preferred

Preferred

Garage Projection

Principle

Garages that project significantly in front of theliving areas dominate the street façade of a house.The longer the projection, the more the garagebecomes the main focus of the streetscape. Arepeated pattern of projected garages has a negativeimpact on the neighbourhood streetscape bycreating a street dominated by garages instead ofliving areas and porches.

Design Guideline

Limit the garage projection to maximum of 1.5m(5’) into the front yard.



TORONTOJune 2004

Not Preferred

Preferred



Three Car Garages

Principle

Three car garages, when all in the same plane, canresult in facades that are visually unappealing andnot in keeping with the existing surroundings. Variousmethods can be used to break up the massiveappearance of houses with three car garages, suchas: setting the third garage back from the other twogarages; setting back the second floor above of thegarages.

Design Guideline

Encourage horizontal or vertical articulation of threecar garages within the overall massing of the house.

June 2004

Not Preferred

Preferred

Garage Location

Principle

In general, garages located at the rear yard providefor a better streetscape allowing for a larger portionof the front yard to be used for landscaping and theliving areas of a house to predominate along thesidewalk. Rear yard garages are an alternative thatbroadens the range of housing forms and residentialenvironments.

Design Guideline

Encourage rear yard garages where feasible.



TORONTOJune 2004

Not Preferred

Preferred


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34 UDG Repl Hsng Gdel (form NY) · URBAN DESIGN GUIDELINES June 2004 REPLACEMENT HOUSING GUIDELINES TORONTO Replacement housing in the former City of North ... standardize design;