In direct contrast to many of Toronto's, blue-toned, glass-clad condo projects comes this proposed townhouse project for Gerrard St. in the Upper Beaches. A collaboration between Symmetry Developments and 5468796 Architecture, the project will consist of 44 stacked units organized loosely around a treehouse theme. A sales centre isn't expected until the end of this year, so details remain relatively sparse, but there's no shortage of philosophizing from the architects at this early stage.

"By designing a housing project around a courtyard, all residents get to see each other when entering the space, which they all get to share," Sasa Radulovic of 5468796 Architecture told us by email. "As it comes to the building, it deals with privacy and creates a rhythm of the facade that is not necessarily evident in the Canadian condominium market. The design walks a fine line of balancing between privacy and getting open views towards the green space. The strategy includes the depth of the facade as well as angling of the windows, that allows us to carefully orchestrate the relationship between dwellings on the opposite sides of the courtyard...our intent is to create a modern, but not cold environment for the residents."

The last sentence is probably the most apt. What makes this design so exciting is the degree to which it's radically open without being bland. The heavy doses of earthy brown certainly help in this regard, but it's the method of stacking itself that probably holds the most visual interest. It's hard to know where the public space gives way to the private. More like this, please.

What do you think? Would you like to see more townhouse developments like this one?