RECOGNITION

West End Semi is Thoughtfully Transformed into Three Distinct Apartments

Architect Nicky Bruun-Meyer designs knockout rental spaces that combine rich history with sustainable style

Interior doors the colour of hot mustard, curvy cabinetry painted moody aubergine, ingenious wall cut-outs with peekaboo views… These are just some of the many decorative delights that liberate architect Nicky Bruun-Meyer’s West End semi-turned-rental apartments from the ho-hum, white-box norm.

Nicky, the principal and founder of Toronto’s Plural Projects, purchased this Victorian semi in the city’s Little Portugal neighbourhood in the summer of 2023 with plans to convert the 2,900 square-foot space into three apartments. “I was interested in providing middle-type rental units,” she says. “Basically, they’re a residential building typology that’s between a single-family house and a high-rise condo. It’s housing that adds density to residential neighbourhoods where people want to live, instead of putting up more towers.”

 Read the full article here.
 
 

Featured in DesignTO:  

 New Narratives in Design: Salvage, Reuse, and Toronto’s Evolving Aesthetic
 
https://designto.org/event/new-narratives-in-design/
 
 

This exhibition invites visitors to explore a new vision for Toronto—a city whose architecture and design can honour its past while building a more sustainable future. Created by a collective of architects, designers, and makers, the showcase centres around one critical question: What is Toronto’s new building and design aesthetic when seen through the lens of material salvage, reuse, and the circular economy?

As Toronto undergoes rapid growth, with renovations and new construction reshaping its urban landscape, there is a unique opportunity to advocate for reusing materials as an intentional choice, blending sustainability with aesthetics. Through thoughtfully curated objects and spaces, this exhibit presents real examples of material reuse in practice, from construction and interior design to furniture and lighting. Each piece tells a story, transforming remnants of the past into enduring elements of the city’s evolving identity.

The exhibit is made up of two venues: a exhibit of objects crafted by local designers and artisans, as well as a local renovation project, whose construction trajectory included deconstruction, salvage, and reuse within its interiors. We encourage people to visit both venues, for a full understanding of what salvage and reuse make possible, and be inspired to rethink what Toronto’s spaces could be when built on the foundation of creativity, responsibility, and respect for the resources we already have.

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featured in Wallpaper Magazine:

Toronto’s Evolving Aesthetic
An exhibition on material reuse (you know the drill: repurposed bricks, beams, etc) brought curious home-reno nerds to a conscious renovation project in Little PortugalNicky Bruun-Meyer, the architect, walked guests through a salvage-heavy Victorian property that she’s turning into a thoughtful three-unit building – one that puts tenants well above the bottom line.
 

FEATURED IN DESIGNLINES MAGAZINE:

A Wallace Emerson Renovation Revamps a 1920s Relic

 

 

Blending thoughtful sightlines, bold architectural details and a palette inspired by Canadian art

While many aging builds still stand the test of time, many more feature the boxed-off alcoves, tight entryways and low doorways of single-family homes from a bygone era. In Toronto’s Wallace Emerson neighbourhood, one such 1920s home got its own, much-needed face-lift. Led by local firm Picnic Design, the freshly renovated dwelling greets the modern era in high style. 

 

Read the full article here.

COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT

Sponsorship of local sports clubs & schools

 
Volunteer projects such as the Pemberton Community Build for the First Nations 

EDUCATION

Bridgwater & Taunton College – Somerset, England
 
George Brown College – Toronto ON, Canada
 
Island School of the Building Arts  – Gabriola Island BC, Canada
 
Log Building Association of New Zealand – Geraldine, New Zealand
 
Heartwood School – Alstead NH, USA
 

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