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Shawn Freeman: He’s right up your alley

 

A true love of visual arts led Shawn Freeman to pursue a career in architecture and today he’s hoping to use that passion to change neighbourhoods for the better.

The Toronto architect, who lives and works in Seaton Village, is spearheading a move that could ultimately transform how the city uses its alleys and laneways. The residents’ group he co-founded with architect and office mate Andrew Morrison is known affectionately as Victory Lane because members plan to win over city hall in their push to rezone the space behind peoples’ homes for live-work use.

The concept behind Victory Lane is quite simple. Not everyone wants to move out of the city and away from their homes, neighbours and family members as they age. But many are forced to thanks to escalating housing and living expenses and reduced incomes or limited pensions. Shawn’s plan would allow more leeway in the development of garages to generate income. A homeowner could potentially convert their garage into an apartment or perhaps a studio space that would be rented out to a photographer. The possibilities are virtually endless.

The move is motivated in part by recent vertical housing intensification taking place along Dupont and Bathurst. Homes are being overshadowed by six-storey buildings and residents are feeling a loss of privacy. Proponents of alley development believe that two to two-and-a-half storey buildings built adjacent to laneways won’t result in a loss of privacy.

Given recent studies and anecdotal evidence that indicate how much better it is for seniors to remain in their own homes as they age and Toronto’s housing density and affordability issues, his idea may just be perfectly timed. It’s also believed that laneway development would heighten the safety of the area behind people’s homes.

And while the plan is not a new concept and is used widely in pricey housing centres such as Vancouver, Shawn realizes Toronto city hall can be a tough nut to crack, although he expects Adam Vaughan, the city councillor for Seaton Village, to come on board.

A practicing architect for nearly two decades, Shawn has valuable, hands-on experience and has actually designed and built a home recently that would exemplify this concept off of a laneway behind Bathurst Street.

Shawn, whose Bathurst Street practice is just down the block from Freeman Real Estate, where his two brothers and parents own and operate an independent real estate business, lives with his wife and three school-aged children in Seaton Village, a neighbourhood he’s called home since 1992. He walks or bikes to work often toting his 70-pound Hungarian hound named Big Boy.

His architecture specialty is custom-designed homes and cottages in addition to alterations and additions to living spaces. Heritage homes are another speciality he enjoys and has done work on designated homes in Rosedale and Forest Hill.

For more about Shawn and his work visit www. shawnfreemanarchitect.com. Or if you’d like to join Victory Lane or want more information about the group, email him at Shawn.freeman@sympatico.ca.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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