Architecture that roots itself quietly in the neighbourhood fabric. Denser than a house, more human than a tower — the vital middle ground that healthy cities are built upon.
The understory of a forest is where the most diverse, adaptive life takes hold — sheltered by the canopy above, rooted in the ground below. This collection borrows that metaphor for housing: the missing middle as a quiet, resilient layer of the city.
"These typologies are not monuments. They are neighbours."
Each design asks how a building can increase density without announcing itself — how it can offer more people a place in an established neighbourhood without displacing what makes that neighbourhood worth living in.
The Understory Collection is an ongoing study — a living document of typologies, ideas, and built experiments in the space between the house and the tower. Developed in collaboration between Saltus Ventures and Knighton Architecture + Planning.
Each entry examines a distinct typology — its form, density, social character, and its relationship to the street and neighbourhood it calls home.
Duplex · Infill
A side-by-side duplex that mirrors the massing of its single-family neighbours while quietly doubling the density of the block.
Stacked Duplex · Vertical
Two full-floor units stacked vertically, each with its own entrance — offering the privacy of a house with the efficiency of shared land.
Triplex · Infill
A three-unit infill that fits naturally into a standard lot, stepping its massing to maintain neighbourly scale at the street edge.
Fourplex · Corner
A fourplex occupying a corner lot, its massing stepped to address both streets while keeping ground-floor units in close dialogue with the sidewalk.
Fourplex · Laneway
A front-and-back fourplex that activates the laneway as a shared address, drawing life into the block's interior without touching the main streetscape.
Townhouse · Row
A terrace of four townhouses drawing on vernacular traditions, with rear garden suites that add gentle density without altering the streetscape.
Courtyard · Community
Six stacked flats arranged around a shared courtyard, creating a semi-private communal landscape that anchors the building's social life.
ADU · Backyard
A compact accessory dwelling tucked behind a heritage home, demonstrating how hidden density can quietly transform a neighbourhood over time.
Carriage House · Heritage
A heritage-sensitive carriage house conversion that adds a full dwelling above a garage, preserving the original structure while unlocking new density.
Stacked Flats · Midrise
An eight-unit stacked flat building at the upper edge of the missing middle — ambitious in density, careful in its relationship to the sky and street.
Mixed Use · Main Street
Ground-floor retail or workspace with residential units above — a classic main street typology that layers economy and community into a single building.
Manor House · Large Lot
A large single-family home sensitively divided into four self-contained units, preserving the building's original presence while significantly increasing its contribution to the housing supply.
Micro-Suite · Urban Infill
A compact urban infill of six micro-suites designed for singles and young professionals — efficient, well-crafted, and quietly radical in how much it achieves on a narrow lot.
