Dr. Andrew Boozary discusses how good design in housing projects can address homelessness by focusing on human dignity. Spring House, a 40,000-square-foot supportive and transitional housing building in Toronto's Parkdale neighbourhood, will provide 54 apartments with services for unhoused individuals. The project, part of a $64 million expansion initiative supported by three governments, includes design elements that encourage community interaction and has already shown success at Dunn House, where emergency visits dropped by 52% and hospital stays decreased by 79%.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-10-05,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
If you ask Dr. Andrew Boozary about design, he has a simple formula: “Good design is rooted in human dignity,” he says.
asserted
he → ask → dignity
The doctor, who treats unhoused people through University Health Network, has helped deliver new buildings that provide dignified conditions to an underserved population.
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that → treat → population
At Spring House, a new supportive and transitional housing building in Toronto’s Parkdale neighbourhood, the hospital and three governments will bring that ideal home.
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hospital → bring → home
The roughly 40,000-square-foot building will include 54 apartments along with supportive services.
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building → include → services
It sets an important example of how to serve a marginalized population while attending to the details that make a good home.
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that → set → home
The building, designed by Toronto’s Montgomery Sisam Architects, builds on the precedent of nearby Dunn House, which opened in 2024.
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which → design → 2024
Both rely on a simple insight: The best way to treat homelessness is with housing.
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way → rely → housing
Last Thursday, Build Canada Homes, the City of Toronto and the UHN Foundation announced a total of $64-million to expand the program over three more sites, providing about 200 more homes.
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Homes → announce → homes
The model works well.
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model → work → ?
Dunn House serves unhoused people who were frequent UHN emergency-department patients.
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who → serve → people
After one year, residents saw emergency visits drop by 52 per cent and their days in hospital drop 79 per cent, for reported savings of more than $2-million.
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days → see → million
Dr. Boozary, who treats Dunn House residents, has seen results that can’t be captured on a spreadsheet.
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that → treat → spreadsheet
“The community that’s emerged there is one of the most powerful and beautiful things that I’ve witnessed,” he says.
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he → emerge → that
“There’ll be someone in their 20s knocking on my clinic door, saying, ‘You know, I’m worried about Miss So-and-So, who’s in her 70s.
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who → knock → 70s
I went to get her groceries, and she’s not her usual self.
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she → go → groceries
I think you might want to check in on her.’
uncertain
you → think → her
“This person – someone that we would stigmatize and push away – is here banging on my door to look out for an older adult.”
That is medicine.
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That → stigmatize → adult
Spring House is designed in two parts.
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House → design → parts
The main eight-storey block is compact and repetitive, suited to the mass-timber construction systems being encouraged by Build Canada Homes.
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block → encourage → Homes
Wood panels and beams provide a rational structural grid.
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panels → provide → grid
Down at the ground, a two-storey triangular wing reaches its arm out to meet the street.
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wing → reach → street
The architects have also paid close attention to Parkdale itself.
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architects → pay → Parkdale
The building takes its material cues from the area’s Victorian brick and sandstone.
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building → take → brick
Proposed hand-laid brick surrounds large arched windows.
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brick → lay → windows
At the entrance, green glazed brick provides a flash of colour.
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brick → glaze → colour
At Dunn House, some benches proved less useful than expected, while a covered porch seat became a popular place to stop and talk.
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seat → prove → House
At Spring House that experience has informed a more informal public edge, with opportunities for what Dr. Boozary calls “micro-interactions.”
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Boozary → inform → interactions
Inside, the front desk is tucked around a corner, allowing staff to see what is happening without making the entrance feel like a checkpoint.
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entrance → tuck → checkpoint
The second floor offers a lounge and terrace at the level of the surrounding trees.
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floor → offer → trees
“People who have experienced homelessness often feel very scrutinized,” says Kevin Hutchinson, the partner at Montgomery Sisam who is leading the design.
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who → experience → design
A resident can use the front porch to interact with people on the street, he explained, or go upstairs for a private moment.
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he → use → moment
For Dr. Boozary, such intentional design marks a contrast to the punishing conditions of the shelter system.
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design → mark → system
“I just refuse to call shelters housing,” he told me.
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he → refuse → me
The uncertainty, instability and lack of privacy are “not a way to live.”
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uncertainty → live → privacy
Spring House provides an answer, but also a puzzle of governance and fundraising.
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House → provide → governance
The building is supported by the federal government through Build Canada Homes, the province and the City of Toronto – municipal real estate agency CreateTO acts as development manager.
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CreateTO → support → manager
This means many mandates and many cooks in the kitchen.
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This → mean → kitchen
The growth of the program suggests that UHN, and Dr. Boozary’s team, have been canny in designing and managing the place.
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UHN → suggest → place
They have taken input from their housing fellows program; one fellow, the British social-housing architect Paul Karakusevic, provided feedback on the Spring House design.
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fellow → take → design
And Montgomery Sisam are being hired by the clients directly, rather than through the complicated lawyerly alliances that define most health care buildings in Canada today.
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that → hire → Canada
…and 1 more, not listed.
The Aporia
