Robertson House is a Metro Toronto Community Services temporary shelter for women and their children. Two connected historic houses on Sherbourne Street were renovated and a new L-shaped addition added. The facility is organized around a new central courtyard for social gatherings and children’s play. The building attempts to avoid the “special housing” label by blending in with the scale of its urban surroundings. The image of the Robertson House addition draws on the metaphor of a single house, reinforcing the notion of a safe place of collective and individual living, which is both supportive and nurturing. The design attempts to be sensitive and understated, respecting the desires and needs of the users.

The three principal programmatic elements – the child-care facility, dining area, and residents’ lounge area – open directly onto the landscaped courtyard, which has a small secluded garden at the west end. The presence of children is celebrated by a circular story-telling room, the indoor play area, and the separate youth activity room. Also on the ground floor are connected prayer, study, and counseling areas. The lobby, which is staffed by a receptionist gate-keeper is designed to accommodate the flow of residents, visitors, and baby carriages, and to provide a feeling of security from the street. Ground floor circulation occurs along the courtyard perimeter and incorporates spaces for casual conversation, repose, and encounter.

The bedrooms, all on the second floor, are modest and intimate in scale. Each bedroom contains a dormer window and window seat, providing a private, quiet outlook for mother and child.

Siamak Hariri

Publisher and philanthropist, John Ross Robertson lived in this house, 1881-1918. He was born in Toronto and while at Upper Canada College he started The College Times, the first school newspaper in Canada. He became city editor of The Globe in 1865 and the following year with James B. Cook established The Daily Telegraph published in 1872. Four years later Robertson founded The Evening Telegram, which quickly became one of Toronto’s leading newspapers. Financial success enabled him to make substantial contributions to the building and operation of the Hospital for Sick Children and to gratify his life-long interest in history. He assembled an invaluable historical and pictorial collection and published some notable works such as “Landmarks of Toronto” and the “History of Freemasonry in Canada.”

Plaque text courtesy of the Ontario Heritage Foundation