• case study

4 min

the hidden library_

How we opened up a dark den in a converted office loft

LOCATION

Midtown Toronto

CEILING

11 ft

SCOPE

Millwork, Home Library Design, Metalsmith Door System,

FABRICATOR

1925Workbench

PROJECT

Eglinton Loft

YEAR

2021

Eglinton loft Toronto industrial living room with large yellow sectional sofa, custom 10-foot steel-framed glass library doors. Creating a beautiful home library design.

FIG. 01

The library wall seen from the living area, framed in black steel and glass.

A room with 11-foot ceilings that nobody could see was not doing anyone any favours.

The den in our Eglinton Loft project, a converted office in midtown Toronto, could not. Our clients are serious readers with a collection built over years, and they needed a home library design that let them see it. The room they had was working against them.

Two small sliding barn doors in dark stained wood, a narrow stained glass transom window above them, and a dropped soffit that hid the ceiling height completely. Inside, freestanding bookshelves and a leather chair. The collection was impressive. But the room was cave-like, dark and cramped in a way that had nothing to do with its actual size.

Den before renovation with dark barn doors and stained glass transom
Dark den before renovation with freestanding shelves and dropped soffit

FIG. 02 – 03

Before: barn doors, stained glass transom, dropped soffit.

01

the opening

why the existing opening had to go

The barn doors were not working on any level. They had nothing going for them aesthetically or functionally, and they were limiting what the room could be. The opening was too narrow to let any meaningful light through, which makes no sense for a room where people are meant to sit and read. The height inside was completely hidden. The library was cut off from the rest of the loft as if it did not exist.

Replacing the doors with something that could do justice to the space was not a cosmetic decision. It was a spatial one. The ceiling height that made the rest of the loft special was being wasted behind that wall.

Floorplan of the den before renovation with narrow door opening
Floorplan of the den after renovation with full-width glass opening

FIG. 04

Before & After Floor Plan of the Den

02

the door system

designing the door system

We designed a 10-foot by 10-foot black steel and glass door and window system to replace the existing opening entirely. Floor to ceiling, wall to wall. The library would now be visible from the main living area at all times, with the option to close the doors for privacy and acoustic separation when needed.

The system was built in collaboration with Rock Huynh and My Le Nguyen of 1925Workbench, a husband-and-wife metalsmith studio in Toronto that does exceptional custom fabrication work.

We brought them the concept, and they refined it based on construction realities, working through decisions like the number of panes, mullion spacing, glass specification and door hardware. 

Closed black steel and glass doors separating the library from the living area

FIG. 05

10 × 10 steel and glass, closed for acoustic separation.

03

The Process

Skim coated wall surfaces around the prepared opening
Rough opening cut to full width and height of the wall
Wall opened up during demolition of the den entrance
Steel door frame being installed into the opening
Glass panes installed in the black steel door system
Framing and blocking installed around the new door opening

FIG. 06

Demo, reframe, millwork install, fabrication and install with 1925Workbench

Blocking added, opening cut, surrounds skimmed smooth before the system went in. This is what our full-service interior design looks like in practice: one team carrying the concept through fabrication and installation.

04

the door system

home library design built around what was already there

Ductwork runs along the top of the room and the concrete slab above changes the ceiling height across the space. A flat panel at the top of the shelving lets the duct pass through cleanly and gave us a surface for art lighting. The shelves wrap two walls from that panel down to the floor, all in black to tie back to the door system.

The rolling ladder our clients wanted could not curve both walls, so it hooks on and off and moves manually instead. Same library moment, one that actually works.

Eglinton Loft Bookcase 3

FIG. 07

Custom bookcase design with featured elements

05

the results

what opening a wall does for a dark room

The difference between the before and after in this room is not just visual. It is spatial. A room that felt disconnected and dark now reads as one of the most considered moments in the entire loft. The colourful spines of hundreds of books are visible from the living area, framed by black steel and glass, with the exposed ductwork running overhead tying the whole thing back to the building it came from.

Decisions like this one, replacing an opening instead of dressing it up, are exactly what we work through with clients in our 90-minute design consultation. It is where we look at what a space is hiding and what it would take to show it.

The ceiling height was always there. So was the collection. The only thing missing was an opening big enough to show both of them properly.

Reading chair inside the custom library with black shelving wrapping two walls
Custom library seen through the open steel and glass doors from the living area
Custom black library shelving with hook-on ladder and books floor to ceiling

FIG. 08

Complete home library design.

If your home is hiding something worth seeing, book a design consultation and we will find it together.

VIEW EGLINTON LOFT PROJECT

See what your space is hiding.

Instagram Youtube