Mars House by Studio Lau
Mars House lands on a Toronto, Canada street with a measured confidence, designed by Studio Lau for a small family. The house rethinks routine with a split-level plan that trades formality for function and ties rooms to daily rhythm. A gym and basketball court set the brief in motion, while open yet connected living areas keep activity and quiet in balance.
Morning light lifts across staggered landings and open edges. From entry to kitchen to deck, the house draws movement forward with a calm, legible cadence.
This is a single-family house in Toronto by Studio Lau, organized around a split-level sequence that answers evolving routines. The plan responds to the request for a basketball court and flexible gym with soaring height, then threads circulation to keep family life connected.
Split Levels Organize
The plan stacks short runs between program bands to make room for an 18-foot-high court without inflating the footprint. Each landing works as a hinge, setting up clear adjacencies that keep cooking, dining, and outdoor meals within easy reach. Formal living and dining rooms are edited out to prevent idle square footage and give every room a daily job.
Circulation And Light
Windows and skylights pull daylight along the route, so stairs read as bright connectors rather than back-of-house corridors. Large sliders extend the kitchen and dining zone to a deck, turning transitions into usable thresholds without breaking the interior’s flow. Volumes contract near the stairs and expand at family zones, tightening focus before releasing it into shared activity.
Court Anchors Routine
A tall gym and court sit at the heart of the sequence—athletics become part of the daily loop rather than a separate destination. Short flights tie the court to hangout areas and bedrooms, so supervision and conversation happen in passing. The flexible floor under that height works for workouts, play, and weekend gatherings (shoes squeak, voices carry, energy returns upstairs).
Volumes Set Back
Outside, interlocking masses step away from the street to soften scale and mark entry. Black metal cladding runs in a steady rhythm, warmed by wood siding and porcelain slabs that temper the facade’s grain and gloss: a crisp composition without glare. The setbacks echo the interior’s cadence, compressing and releasing along the lot to cue movement and rest.
Edited Interiors
Inside, clean lines and natural tones keep attention on sequence and use. Warm wood accents ground touchpoints at railings and casework, while furniture sits low to preserve sightlines between levels. With nonessential rooms removed, the house runs lean, assigning each room to a habit and letting circulation carry the story.
As afternoon fades, the stair catches soft shadow and the court glows from above. The route home remains clear, the plan doing quiet work with every step.
Photography courtesy of Studio Lau
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