Active House Featured in Globe and Mail for Sustainable Homes

The next time you’re driving along Holland Street West in Bradford, Ont., take a hard right at sculptor Ron Baird’s shining, kinetic dragonfly, and drive past the big pond. And just like Mr. Baird’s sculpture is hard to miss, since it’s perched atop a nine-metre pole, the house in question, just off Summerlyn Trail, recalls a famous Sesame Street song, One of These Things (Is Not Like the Others).

Indeed. Hiding in plain sight among the unnecessarily complex roof shapes, pediment-topped garages with oculus windows and columned front porches, 8 Downy Emerald Dr. is a horse of a different colour.

Opened about a week ago and a few years in the making, the Great Gulf-designed project is the builder’s third “Active House” – the first two were designed by the architectural firm superkül and located in Thorold and Etobicoke. It might be the first time homebuyers will get excited about a higher price tag. 

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