Not content with building a home and office in Halifax, Nova Scotia, just for himself, Canadian architect Omar Gandhi has dedicated nearly an entire floor of his new space to working on pro bono pr...
Not content with building a home and office in Halifax, Nova Scotia, just for himself, Canadian architect Omar Gandhi has dedicated nearly an entire floor of his new space to working on pro bono projects to improve the local area
Left, the white oak-clad living area is lit by a dramatic skylight; right, the façade is made of eastern white cedar and western red cedar. Both timbers have weathered naturally very quicklywas looking for a way to consolidate home and office life when he came upon an overgrown, narrow lot in the North End of Halifax, Nova Scotia.
‘I was renting and wanted to move the office nearby,’ he says. ‘I often hang out in this area, and I was really drawn to the diversity of the community as a place to raise my son, and the tradition of craft and texture of the neighbourhood.’ At 241.5 sq m, the plot was not big, but he decided the challenge was worth it and that he was going to attempt to ‘jam it all in with room for some magic’.
Working with that in mind, he decided to dedicate the majority of the ground floor to a workspace whose primary purpose is to connect with and help the local community. From there, with staff joining from his main Halifax office on an ad hoc basis and locals coming in for meetings and consultations, he tackles pro bono work to improve the community while making sure long-term residents don’t feel left out.
Buff-coloured bricks in common bond – ubiquitous in this province of Canada – have been used to form a plinth that wraps around the workspace. On top sits a timber volume, forming a screen that protects the interiors. It allows just the right amount of the outside in and glows when lit from within at night. Windows are carefully calculated and used to enhance both light and intimacy. ‘They are not there for the views as such,’ Gandhi explains. ‘It is a fairly inward-looking home.
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