Lanescape is a group of planning, design, and development professionals who have long considered laneway and garden suite development to be a potential resource and opportunity for the City of Toronto to thoughtfully improve housing options in existing residential neighbourhoods.

In 2014, Lanescape set out to crowd-source an as-of-right zoning policy that would allow homeowners to easily and affordably build laneway suites. We, like many Torontonians, needed help affording our mortgages, aging in place, and finding family-oriented rental options near parks and schools. After 4 years of tireless effort consulting with communities, planning professionals, city staff, and municipal leaders, our dream became a reality when the City of Toronto approved and implemented as-of-right laneway housing by-laws in the summer of 2018.

Over the course of our advocacy efforts, our expertise in design and construction was integral to our success. With the Changing Lanes policy now in place and the Garden + Suites project well underway, our experience in establishing the by-law now informs our design-build approach, establishing our team as the leading authority on laneway and garden suite development. Lanescape’s fundamental mandate centered on thoughtful, positive and sustainable development continues to permeate all facets of our practice throughout our ongoing advocacy efforts, approach to design and methods of construction delivery.