Split Face

Split Face reworks an unassuming multi-storey brick building on a corner lot along a commercial stretch in North York, just outside Toronto, turning it into a modern dental clinic. The site offered generous space and a sizeable parking area, but the existing structure was poorly accessible and did little to engage the street. VFA Architecture + Design was asked to address those shortcomings while keeping most of the original building intact.

The previous frontage was stripped away and replaced with a thickened façade that holds a new vertical circulation core, combining a staircase and a compact lift, alongside a series of waiting areas that look out over the street. The resulting form reads like the top right corner of a white picture frame, clad in aluminium composite panels and chamfered inwards to give the elevation depth. Ample glazing lights the principal interiors and sits above a reverse L-shaped volume in a black frame that contains the stairwell rising through three floors.

A new landscape strategy works with the sloped site, knitting together paths between the main entrance, the parking area and the pavement. The approach prioritises step-free access for the practice's largely elderly clientele while lifting the building's street presence and kerb appeal on Willowdale Avenue.

Architecture and interior design by VFA Architecture + Design. Photography by Scott Norsworthy.