infill, intensificatioin

Making Infill Work – details

Recall the previous post showing the very trendy mod front and rear exterior shots of the new infill project proposed for Elm Street west.

What looks from the front and the rear like two houses on the double wide lot is very deceptive. There are actually four houses in total. There are two back to back units on each lot. Front garages are forbidden by the city in this area. The driveway comes down between the two front houses and there are four carports inbetween the front and rear houses. The houses cantelevor over the carports or have a carport roof deck, depending on which of the four 1900 sq ft units is selected.
There are more innovative pushes to the zoning bylaws here too. In addition to dividing the lot into two by a line from front to back, there is a horizontal division too, so there are four lots — two at the front, two at the back. Each house is on its own lot. The two back lots have a long thin finger extending up the driveway to have street frontage. Ergo, these are a row of townhouses, on four streetfronting lots. The two centre lots happen to be 11 inches wide, although they extend out to become 28′ wide at the back half.

I think in this case it is a very clever solution. The cars are hidden mid-lot, out of sight of the street and not ruining the back yards, and not requiring expensive underground garages.

There are a number of existing 3 storey houses or apts on this street already. Other units come as far forward or close to the rear lot lines as these do. The “apartment” building directly across the street (from this infill) is really six stacked back-to-back townhouses * which probably takes up as much of its double lot as these houses do.

The builder proposes to go for LEED certification, but I cannot figure out why. The houses are attractive and likely to sell well before construction starts.

*two units on ground floor, running front to back of the building; two two-storey units above facing the street, two two-storey units facing the rear, all accessed off stairways on either side of the building.