1100 Lansdowne Ave., unit 339, Toronto<\/p>\n
Asking Price: $2,798,000<\/p>\n
Taxes: $6,447.44 (2025)<\/p>\n
Monthly maintenance fee: $1,996.07<\/p>\n
Agent: Adrian Mainella (Sotheby\u2019s International Realty Canada)<\/p>\n
The backstory<\/p>\n
Architect David Grant-Rubash stood at the centre of a hard loft in Toronto\u2019s Junction Triangle and contemplated the vestiges of an Edwardian-era foundry.<\/p>\n
\u201cCan we go straight up and carve through the existing structure of the building?\u201d was the question he grappled with.<\/p>\n
Owner Mathew De Sa had purchased the three-level unit at the Foundry Lofts in 2021 with an eye to opening up the space vertically, but his vision had already been rejected by a few architects wary of the scope and challenge.<\/p>\n
Mr. Grant-Rubash, the founder of Toronto-based Phaedrus Studio, was the first to appear undaunted by the prospect of busting open the framework of steel beams and slabs of precast concrete without fully knowing what he would find inside.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs an architect, you\u2019re working within the realm of mystery,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The existing three-storey tube housing an elevator only added to the complexity of the task.<\/p>\n
The path to a solution became smoother in 2023 after updates to the Ontario building code allowed for the construction of a circular staircase in the loft.<\/p>\n
Mr. Grant-Rubash designed a sinuous stair with white oak treads and integrated lighting.<\/p>\n
He figures his willingness to tackle a project that others spurned may be down to his specialized studies in Copenhagen and Kansas State University, where he earned a Master\u2019s of interior architecture and product design.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is within the wheelhouse of my education,\u201d Mr. Grant-Rubash said, adding that he also brought in a structural engineer.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe wasn\u2019t scared either.\u201d<\/p>\n