It’s among the winding streets and trees of a residential neighbourhood in Toronto that Gallery Residence is located, the home that signalled the return of Burdifilek Studio – known worldwide for its work in the areas of luxury retail and unique residential developments – to a private residence. It fell to Diego Burdi, co-founder of the Canadian studio, to take up the reins of the project, which kicked off in 2018 and was completed last spring. He was responsible for lending a bolder contemporary expression to this 25,000 square metre property belonging to a philanthropic family used to hosting events.
One of the main objectives was to ensure that, with or without guests, the characteristic comfort and cosiness of a home shouldn’t be lost. “For our client, family comes first. Consequently, the different areas of the home had to flow seamlessly from one space into the next. It was important that every room be functional and comfortable”, says Burdi. That is why, between the rooms, a visual fluidity is evident, revealed through a harmonised palette of natural woods, quarried stone, milky tones and soft textures. But it is also this serenity that is sometimes offset by dramatic sight lines leading to the family’s artwork, another crucial element integrated into the project. “We looked for inspiration in the gallery world for environments that we found sculptural in nature but concurrently very human in scale. It was important for us to create a backdrop that allowed the art collection to live within.”