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    Giannone Petricone Associates rescues Ontario hotel from ruin

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    Toronto studio Giannone Petricone Associates has spent a decade restoring a dilapidated hotel in Ontario, linking the building’s past and present through regionally influenced design details.

    Located in Picton, a town in Prince Edward County (PEC) that lies close to the shores of Lake Ontario, The Royal Hotel was in bad shape when the Sorbara family purchased it in 2013.
    The Royal Hotel’s interiors draw upon a mix Victorian and contemporary influences, as seen in the reception area. Photo by Graydon HerriottThe new owners hired Giannone Petricone Associates (GPA) to save what they could of the existing building, which was first completed in 1879, and transform it into contemporary lodgings.
    “Its central staircase was lined with a lush carpet of green moss, and early in the planning phase, the roof caved in,” said the hotel team.
    One of four hotel bars is lined with tambour panelling”But the family vowed to restore the property and bring it back to life as a nexus for both locals and guests of PEC’s burgeoning food and wine region.”

    The architects were able to salvage three of the original brick walls, and within them created a cafe, three bars, a fine-dining restaurant; and a spa, gym and sauna.
    Playful design elements include ceiling rosettes that mimic water ripplesA landscaped terrace overlooks a fourth bar and a brick patio with lounge seating, while an outdoor swimming pool flanked by a row of cabana beds lies beyond.
    A total of 33 guest rooms are available: 28 in the main three-storey hotel building, and a further five suites in a rebuilt stable named The Royal Annex.
    Another cosy lounge area features dark tambour panels around its fireplaceFor the interiors, GPA played on tropes of Victorian railway hotels, mixing formal elements of British tradition with PEC’s more laid-back rural sensibility.
    “The Royal is designed to be a transporting experience while deeply rooted in the local context,” said GPA principal Pina Petricone. “The experience benefits from the charged contrast between ‘genteel’ and ‘real’ elements.”

    Ace Hotel Toronto by Shim-Sutcliffe Architects features a suspended lobby

    In the lobby, the reception desk is wrapped in a floral pattern and a wooden shelving system forms a boutique displaying items for sale.
    Tambour panelling lines the adjacent bar area, which flows into a lounge where softly undulated plasterwork frames a fireplace.
    The hotel offers 33 guest rooms, which feature details like cross-stitched headboardsA variety of checkered and tartan patterns are found across hallway carpets, mosaic bathroom tiles and cross-stitched headboards. Ceiling rosettes throughout the spaces are designed to mimic mushrooms and water ripples.
    “We wanted to have moments in the hotel that were a bit nonsensical,” Petricone said. “The Royal is about escapism, and our research into the hotel’s history demonstrated that it was always a pretty quirky place.”
    A variety of checkered patterns are found throughout the hotel, including in the mosaic bathroom tilesOther recently opened hotels in Canada include the Ace Toronto, which boasts a suspended lobby and rooftop bar.
    Last year, the 1 Hotel Toronto by Rockwell Group and The Drake Hotel Modern Wing by DesignAgency, also in the city, were longlisted in the Hotel and Short Stay Interiors category for the Dezeen Awards.
    The photography is by Doublespace, unless stated otherwise. Main image is by Jeff McNeill.

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      Muted material palette defines monochrome Chinese restaurant by StudioAC

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      Canadian firm StudioAC combined micro cement, stainless steel and vinyl to form the interiors of a Chinese restaurant in Ontario designed to “respond to the context of the strip mall” in which it is located.

      Called Bao, the restaurant is located in the city of Markham, Ontario. It is positioned between a convenience store and a pharmacy along a strip of suburban shops.
      Bao is positioned along a strip of suburban shopsStudioAC’s aim was to create an interior that would provide an efficient dining experience as well as easy takeaway and delivery access, while also promoting Bao’s distinctive visual style.
      To do so, the studio arranged the interior around two angled tangent lines drawn from large street-facing windows to an open kitchen positioned at the back of the restaurant.
      StudioAC designed the eatery with monochrome interiors”These lines skew the visual perspective into the store to dramatise food preparation,” StudioAC told Dezeen.

      While Bao’s interior design stands out from the traditional shops that flank it, the restaurant’s facade was kept deliberately simple to blend into its suburban environment.
      Tables and seating were created in microcement”On the one hand, the project embraces the banal nature of the strip mall as we haven’t really done anything to the exterior,” explained the designers.
      “But on the other hand, the project’s interior responds to the context of the strip mall by introducing a unique visual terminus along an otherwise mundane facade made up of repetitive box stores.”

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      StudioAC chose to use a minimal palette of three materials throughout the monochrome interior design to let the restaurant’s statement layout speak for itself.
      Rectilinear grey microcement tables, benches and stools are positioned on each side of the restaurant, while the open kitchen was finished in stainless steel that was chosen for its striking reflective design as well as its durability.
      Two tangent lines were drawn from the windows to the open kitchenAbove the seating, the team built chunky bulkheads that are positioned parallel to one another. Below these hang contrastingly delicate banners made from vinyl vertical blinds, which were designed in a nod to traditional Chinese lanterns.
      Chosen as a material partly for their cost-effectiveness, the backlit blinds also aim to introduce “moments of softness and intimacy” to the otherwise harsh and muted interiors.
      “We considered all of the furniture as part of the architecture,” explained the designers, who created the custom tables and seating for the project.
      Vinyl backlit “banners” create playful lightingStudioAC has completed numerous other interior designs that are led by a minimalist approach. These include a Toronto house with a pair of timber-clad bedrooms and a luxury cannabis dispensery with faceted walls.
      The photography is by Jeremie Warshafsky Photography.

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      Studio Paolo Ferrari combines wood and granite for Canadian lake house

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      Exposed finishes that draw cues from the forests and geology of Canada come together in this remote holiday home by Toronto-based architect Studio Paolo Ferrari.

      Named after the Muskoka region where the project is located, the retreat overlooks Lake Rosseau, an area that is known as one of Canada’s most sought-after vacation destinations.
      The retreat overlooks Canada’s Lake RosseauThe area sits roughly two hours north of Toronto, and is known for its natural setting. It inspired a collective of painters, known as the Group of Seven, who produced some of the most iconic Canadian imagery of the early 20th century.
      “We wanted to create a place of respite from the intensity of city life and also to build as sensitively as we could, complementing, but never overwhelming, the surrounding environment,” said Studio Paolo Ferrari.
      Granite and Douglas fir define the interior designTwo primary materials were used for the two-storey building: granite, which forms many of the islands in the area, and Douglas fir, which the architects used in the exposed roofs found throughout the home, as well as in cabinetry and on certain walls.

      “The granite is coarse-grained and hard,” said the studio. “It references the minerality of the site and imbues the interiors with a sense of ruggedness.”
      “The Douglas fir offers tactility and warmth, and it connects the house with vernacular building traditions,” the studio added, noting that some of the materials used came from the site itself.
      Studio Paolo Ferrari placed the communal areas on the upper floorStudio Paolo Ferrari designed an inverted layout for the two-bedroom home, placing the communal areas on the upper floor to give them the best views of Lake Rosseau.
      The open-concept kitchen, living, and dining room is anchored by a granite kitchen counter that appears to be made of a rough block of stone. Its edges cantilever out, creating a place to sit for a casual meal.
      Two bedrooms feature on the ground floor”The kitchen island – a large, unfinished block of granite – evokes the boulders and outcroppings one sees across the Canadian Shield, an expanse of bedrock that extends from the Great Lakes to the Arctic Coast,” said Studio Paolo Ferrari.
      “With its size and monumentality, the island offsets the expertly crafted cabinetry that surrounds it.”
      A granite island takes centre stage in the kitchenThe living room is fronted by tall, sliding glass doors that open onto a terrace that offers sweeping views of the lake below.
      Most of the surfaces are covered in a light-coloured wood, which helps the space feel airy and bright.

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      The bedrooms were located on the ground floor. The primary suite faces out onto the lake, while a guest bedroom is located at the back of the home. Its windows open out onto rocky outcroppings and thick trees, lending the space a sense of privacy.
      “Windows frame views in all directions, not only outward to the lake but also inward to the granite escarpment, which is every bit as exquisite as the dappled water,” added the studio.
      Furnishings were kept simple throughout the homeThe home’s bathrooms were finished in dark granite, creating a sense of contrast from the bright open spaces in the bedrooms and communal areas.
      Throughout the home, the furnishings were kept as simple as possible.
      “Our guiding ethos was warm minimalism,” Studio Paolo Ferrari explained. “The interiors derive their elegance from a lack of visual clutter.”
      The lake house includes a gabled roofOther natural retreats in Canada include a dramatic, cantilevered structure overlooking a lake, and a ski cottage that appears to have been split in two, by Montreal-based firm Naturehumaine.
      The photography is by Joel Esposito.

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