2101 C.O.R.E. Design

Culture // Ownership // Religion // Engagement. A multipurpose DIY framing system designed to foster feelings of ownership, privacy & belonging for families living in high-rise apartments.

Toronto continues to be Canada’s most popular arrival city for immigrants. Neighbourhoods such as Thorncliffe Park and its post-war towers have since become densely populated and prominent multicultural hubs with Thorncliffe Park representing Canada’s largest Islamic community. This project aims to provide retrofits to high-rise apartments and rental tenures to better suit non-western identities and growing families through self-build adaptations and RAC zoning.

The proposed system provides an opportunity to move clutter from plan to section via a highly customizable, do-it-yourself framing system made of dimensional lumber and simple bolted connections. This kit of parts comprises of a list of tools and materials easily purchasable from local hardware stores or borrowed from friends and family. The repeating assembly logic of this adaptation achieves a flexible and large range of configurations for different methods of storage, privacy, ownership and program. Suitable for a spectrum of different users, this kit of parts and manual takes into consideration the overall cost and skill required to build various adaptations.

Collaborator: Olivia Chan

Course: 3B Option Studio, Re:New
Course Instructor: Jonathan Enns, University of Waterloo



Thorncliffe Park Context Diagram



C.O.R.E. Kit of Parts Tool and Off-The-Shelf Parts Catalogue



C.O.R.E. Kit of Parts Configurations



Assembly Diagram



Adaptation Unit Plan



Adaptation Unfolded Elevation



Adaptation Metrics