Really…that’s a fourplex? One house, four homes

Sheridan College students are helping showcase the future of fourplex living in Mississauga. With the need for housing increasing across the city and the population of many neighbourhoods shrinking, fourplexes can help bring more low-rise housing options to our communities.

Since January, students in the Architectural Technology program have been using data, critical thinking, drawing tools and imagination to bring fourplexes to life. The collaboration with Sheridan College is part of Mississauga’s ongoing academic partnership program.

Get inspired

Interested in seeing what fourplexes might look like in your community? Whether you’re thinking about building a fourplex, or just curious about this type of housing, here’s how to check out the students’ work.

Online

Check out our online image gallery at Mississauga.ca/fourplex to see the renderings and learn more about building a fourplex.

In person

Visit the Fourplex: 1 House 4 Homes exhibition at the Creative Campus Gallery at Sheridan College (Hazel McCallion Campus).

The exhibition includes renderings, floor plans and storyboards for a variety of fourplexes. Each fourplex tells the story of four units within one house to help bring the architecture to life.

The exhibition runs from September 5 to September 12.

A fresh perspective on fourplexes

A fourplex is a low-rise building containing four separate units. While fourplexes exist in some parts of the city like Port Credit, they are relatively uncommon citywide. Sheridan students are helping to bring a fresh perspective on fourplexes for Mississauga residents.

During their 14-week course, the students:

• Imagined residents living within and around the fourplex – how they could share connections while respecting privacy and boundaries.
• Brought the stories of these residents to life through visual illustrations.
• Worked with 30 different locations across the City, planning designs that could integrate seamlessly into Mississauga’s existing neighbourhoods.
• Created architectural floorplans, sections and renderings for a variety of fourplexes.

More housing options for Mississauga neighbourhoods

Detached homes currently make up about 70 per cent of all housing in Mississauga – but that’s changing. The City is working hard to end exclusionary zoning, an outdated practice that used zoning rules to restrict certain types of housing in residential neighbourhoods.

Since 2023, the City has taken a number of actions to make it easier to build different housing types in neighbourhoods. This includes permitting:

• semi-detached homes
• three residential units on a lot (including basement apartments and garden suites)
• fourplexes

Gentle density is a good way to help revive older neighbourhoods. It brings people to areas where schools, parks, transit, community centres and libraries are already in place. It can also create more compact, walkable communities which help support local shops and restaurants.

Learn more about Mississauga’s academic partnership program and building a fourplex.

The posters and renderings featured in this story are courtesy of Sheridan College’s Architectural Technology program.

Tags

• Events and Exhibitions
• Housing
• Planning and Building