Alcove Apartments
Located near Centennial College, Alcove Apartments is conceived as a contemporary model for integrated student, faculty, and affordable housing. The project seeks to balance community interaction with privacy, employing architectural strategies that foster a sense of safety, openness, and belonging.
The design pivots around the principle of defensible space, with circulation and access points clearly articulated through exterior hallways that overlook shared landscaped areas. These elevated walkways not only promote natural surveillance and social connection but also enhance the building’s sense of permeability and transparency. Residents encounter one another in semi-public transitional zones, encouraging casual exchanges while maintaining defined private thresholds.
The massing is expressed as a light volume elevated above an open, below-grade parking level. The residential blocks appear to float on slender steel columns, allowing air, light, and views to penetrate beneath the structure. This architectural gesture minimizes the building’s footprint on the ground plane, freeing space for greenery and pedestrian circulation while offering a sense of openness uncommon in dense residential typologies.
Vertical metal cladding defines the building envelope, its profile subtly modulated to create a dynamic interplay of light and shadow across the façades. Accents in vibrant green mark circulation points and frame key architectural gestures, adding a sense of rhythm and visual identity. A perforated green-metal screen wraps the circulation core, providing a distinctive marker for entry while offering shading, filtered transparency, and a constantly shifting façade expression throughout the day.
At the pedestrian level, landscaped edges and open sightlines frame the approach, ensuring the building engages with its context rather than imposing upon it. The combination of robust, low-maintenance cladding and expressive detailing ensures both longevity and a distinctive architectural presence.
Alcove Apartments proposes a housing solution that merges architectural clarity with social purpose—elevating the everyday experience of its residents while contributing a striking and contextually responsive addition to Scarborough’s evolving urban fabric.
Project Status /
Unbuilt
Location /
Scarborough, ON
Architect & Design Team /
Alex & John Romanov
Client /
Witheld
Site Area /
2,600m2