Cornerstone Suites (Indwell/Flourish)

Nominated for the Paul Oberman Award for Adaptive Reuse: Large-Scale/Team/Corporate

Cornerstone Suites in Streetsville is a unique example of gentle density that preserves and adaptively reuses two historic houses and sensitively integrates them into a new supportive housing development. Named Cornerstone Suites because it wraps around the corner of two residential streets, the new construction is nestled between two restored Victorian houses that bookend the development – the Douglas House (1888) and the Wylie Patterson House (1860), both listed heritage buildings.

Like many former small towns in Ontario, the historic village of Streetsville is now part of a large city that is experiencing unprecedented population growth and development. After some initial resistance from the neighbourhood against supportive housing in their back yard, the development team, led by Flourish for Indwell, engaged with the local community and responded by revising the design to reflect their concerns. From the start, the intent was to restore the two heritage houses and connect them with a new three-storey building that was compatible with the scale and character of the neighbourhood. 

The results are outstanding, and Cornerstone Suites officially opened to a large crowd including one of the former residents of the Patterson Wylie House who was honoured by the transformation of their former home for community benefit.  Prior to the transformation, the heritage houses had been operating as unlicensed boarding houses. The houses and yards were not well maintained and a number of unsympathetic alterations had been made. As part of the new development, significant improvements were made, including rebuilding the rotted front porch at the Wylie Patterson House, reinstating the arched windows at the Douglas House, and enhancing both streetscapes with new landscaping.

.

.