ReHousing the Yellowbelt: Multiplex Design and Rezoning in Toronto

ReHousing the Yellowbelt: Multiplex Design and Rezoning in Toronto

This webinar is part of the RAIC 2024 Conference on Architecture, now available to stream!

Topics: Housing, Planning and Urbanism

Length: 1 hour | What's Included: Video, Quiz, and Certificate of Completion 

This session explores a research project that explores how convert single-family homes into multi-unit housing. The project has over 50 plans for 13 of the most common house types in Toronto. This session will explore.

1] an overview of the typological organization of our housing catalogue. It is structured according to two variables, building age and construction cost

2] a review of how typology was used to identify new rules for Toronto’s multiplex zoning change,

3] a review of a completed multiplex project, the Ulster Condos, by research partner LGA. Including an account of regulatory, and practical barriers. ReHousing is a collaboration between Tuf Lab, at the University of Toronto, and LGA Architectural Partners. This partnership brings together structured design research methods with practice-based knowledge.

By the completion of this session, participants will be able to:

• Describe an approach for how design thinking can influence planning policy.
• Discuss a method of typology for organizing design iterations.
• Recognize the importance of addressing regulatory barriers for multiplex buildings.
• Identify practical barriers for small scale housing development.

Subject Matter Experts:

Michael Piper
Harvard M.Arch, Georgia Tech B.Arch
Assistant Professor, University of Toronto

Michael Piper is an Assistant Professor of urban design and architecture and director of the Master of Urban Design program at the University of Toronto. His research and teaching explore opportunities for speculative thinking within messy, real-life conditions of development and urbanization with the goal of producing new opportunities for collective life. This work foregrounds analysis of built form, development practices, and urban planning policy. Current projects include ReHousing, a design system, zoning proposal and development guide for converting single family homes to multiplexes, and Engage-Design-Build, a community design and outreach program in partnership with the Toronto District School Board. 

Janna Levitt
OAA, B.Arch, BA
Partner, LGA Architecture Partners

Janna Levitt co-founded LGA Architectural Partners (formerly Levitt Goodman Architects) and has over 35 years of experience as a licensed architect. She views architecture as essential for creating living, working, and learning environments that improve people’s lives. At LGA, she has led the design of numerous projects that address the Missing Middle, including single-family to multi-unit conversions, infill development, and laneway housing. She has also recently worked on a research initiative with Michael Piper, TUF Lab and Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape and Design, resulting in a visually compelling guide for infilling new housing in Toronto’s low-rise neighbourhoods. In 2023, she led the LGA team’s design that formed part of the Venice Biennale Canadian Pavilion’s exhibition “Architects Against Housing Alienation.”

Janna is an Adjunct Professor at the University of Waterloo, lectures widely on architecture and the arts and is an active jury member and panellist on nationwide architectural and urban design issues.