Why Toronto's condo layouts are so awkward—and it's an investor problem

Toronto's notorious awkward condo layouts—tiny bedrooms, impractical living rooms, micro dens with sliding doors—stem from a fundamental mismatch: the city's real estate market is built for investors, not people who actually live there.

Sami Kazemi, principal at architectural firm BDP Quadrangle, explains that investors think in checklists. They want X number of units under 599 square feet at a certain sales price, with as many bedrooms, bathrooms, and dens as possible—even when it makes no functional sense.

"You end up with these units that are good on paper," Kazemi said. "It's got two bedrooms, but one of the bedrooms is on glass. It's got a den, but the den is really small, and as a result, the living room is really small."

Meanwhile, people who actually buy or rent these units think differently. They care about how a space fits their lifestyle, not price per square foot or a feature checklist.

Building infrastructure also forces architects to adapt layouts. Mechanical systems, elevator shafts, and structural columns create additional constraints, resulting in oddly-shaped rooms and unconventional floor plans that frustrate buyers and renters.

Building infrastructure also constrains flexibility. Yet there's a silver lining: smaller units are generally more affordable and more energy-efficient because they have less exterior frontage. As purpose-built rentals rise and the condo market evolves, developers are beginning to prioritize livability over investor checklists.