May
28, 2006
Doors Open 2006– Toronto’s Architectural
Festival Sure Has Become Popular....
Judging by the line-ups of architecture buffs on the streets, Toronto’s
free architecture festival, Doors
Open, is a resounding success. Since 2000 Doors Open has been
providing free access to architecturally or culturally significant
buildings that would normally be closed to the public or charge
an entrance fee.
This year more than 140 locations participated and included buildings
dating back to the War of 1812, the Victorian era, early 20th century
skyscrapers, places of worship as well as environmentally progressive
“green” buildings. More than one million people have
explored Toronto’s architectural heritage since the inception
of this festival.
The magnificent Banking Hall at 1 King West
Being an avowed architecture fan myself, I made my way downtown
around 10 am this morning to partake of the annual architectural
delights. I linked up with my friend Shauna, who shares my passion,
and our first destination was One
King West, the former Dominion Bank Building, built
in 1914, that has now been turned into a hotel / condominium development.
This building was new on the Doors Open list and even at 11 am there
was a lineup that took a solid half hour to get into the building.
Original design elements of this building include a sweeping Art
Nouveau staircase and the magnificent former Banking Hall which
includes gold-leaf stenciling featuring the nine provinces that
made up Canada at that time. The former Banking Hall dazzles with
30 foot ceilings (covering 3 floors), marble floors and pillars
and imposing cathedral windows. Today it is part of the Dominion
Club, a private social and dining club that is part of the hotel
and is only available to members, suite owners and hotel guests.
The gigantic vault door at 1 King West
We moved on to the basement where we had an opportunity to admire
and walk into the original bank vault. The round vault door is 4
feet thick, weighs 40 tonnes and can actually be moved with one
finger. In 1913, it took 18 horses to bring it up along Yonge Street
from the harbour, and the street was damaged in the process. At
the present time the vault is empty but the hotel plans to turn
it into private dining facilities.
Just a few steps west, at 25 King West is Commerce
Court North, originally called the Canadian Bank of
Commerce Building, and today still the head office of the Canadian
Imperial Bank of Commerce. This 34-story office tower, built in
the classic Art Deco skyscraper style, was opened in 1931 and remained
the highest building in the British Commonwealth until 1962. Commerce
Court North is part of a complex of 4 office towers that also include
retail space.
Art Deco splendour in Commerce Court's Banking Hall
The banking hall is gigantic and features a visually stunning ornamental
coffered ceiling. A giant window faces eastwards and oversize bronze
chandeliers are suspended from the ceiling. The 32nd floor used
to hold an observatory but this was closed when Commerce Court West
was built. The limestone walls feature intricate carvings. We also
had a chance to see the vault in the basement, weighing in at an
astounding 52 tons, protected by a huge square door. The vault is
now empty and also features the oversize broker’s safety deposit
boxes, also unused now, which used to hold important documents.
Elevator area at Commerce Court North
After our exposure to banking architecture, we switched genres
and discovered revitalized industrial architecture at 401
Richmond Street West. This large building used to be
the Macdonald Manufacturing Company, tin lithographers who applied
decorative paintings on tin cans. After having being in an extended
state of disrepair, this building was transformed by Margie Zeidler,
daughter of the famous architect Eberhard Zeidler who had designed
Toronto’s Eaton Centre and Ontario Place.
The courtyard at 401 Richmond
We were right in time for a guided tour at 1 pm and started in
the renovated lobby of this former industrial building. The character
of the original building including uncovered brickwork is intact.
The factory was constructed in 4 stages between 1899 and 1923. In
one of the hallways downstairs original tin sheets showing some
ornamental designs were used as ceiling tiles. In between the building
there is a courtyard that provides air, light and plant life to
this urban environment. A playground in the corner announces that
there is a day-care centre in the building.
An one storey structure (including a vault holding tin sheets as
raw material) were removed to make space for this courtyard which
is now also adorned with two big wire sculptures that feature colourful
textile designs and masks, making them appear like ballet dancers.
Wire sculpture
Our guide took us up to the roof garden: 6500 square feet of urban
sanctuary featuring flowers, vines and bushes against the background
of Toronto’s skyline, all created by the dedicated efforts
of Mike Moody, the Property Manager at 401 Richmond. After a walk
over the renovated Skywalk, a lovingly restored 2nd and 3rd floor
walkway connecting the two sides of the building, Mike gave us an
introduction to window restoration.
The beautiful rooftop garden at 401 Richmond
One of the key features of 401 Richmond are its over 800 grand
double-hung windows, consisting of wooden cross bars with small
window panes in between. These windows had been in a very poor state
of repair and rather than discarding them, a conscious decision
was made to restore them.
Mike demonstrated this painstaking process, from taking the windows
out of the wall, removing the old glass, heat stripping of several
layers of old paint and putty, to replacing the rotted wooden cross
bars, reglazing, puttying, painting and weather stripping. This
process originally used to take 3 hours per window sash, but now
Mike and his crew are able to completely restore one of these windows
in 45 minutes. Of the 800 windows, about 80% are restored now. I
was just marveling at the painstaking nature of this process and
the dedication of the people involved to retaining and refurbishing
the original architectural features.
Mike Moody demonstrates window restoration
Today the complex at 401 Richmond houses around 150 tenants, many
of them from the arts and social innovation communities and the
owner, Urbanspace Property Group, has made a commitment to keeping
the rents below market to give these small entrepreneurs and organizations
some assistance.
Just a few minutes up Spadina Avenue was our next stop on our architectural
tour: the Anshei
Minsk Synagogue is located at 10 St. Andrews Street,
just 2 streets north of the Dundas and Spadina intersection, Toronto’s
largest Chinatown area. This area adjoins the Kensington area which
used to be Toronto’s original Jewish area. Most of the original
Jewish residents have relocated over the past few decades to suburban
areas north of the city. Opened in 1930, the Anshei Minsk Synagogue
was one of about 30 synagogues in the downtown core when there were
still about 30 synagogues in this area. Today there is only one
with daily prayer service.
The Anshei Minsk Synagogue
Rabbi Shmuel Spero talked to the crowd, telling them about Toronto’s
Jewish history and the transformation of the historic Kensington
area. Nowadays more Jewish people moving back downtown.
The Minsk has the feel of a traditional eastern European synagogue
of the 1930s. The main and upper floors are made of hardwood and
stained glass windows feature the Star of David. An ornate chandelier,
hanging from the ceiling, also features Jewish symbols. I wish we
had had more time to sit down and listen to Rabbi Spero, but we
had to get going to make it to our 3 pm tour at the Gladstone Hotel.
When we got there about 40 or 50 people were already waiting for
the tour, testimony to the fact that Doors Open in general and the
Gladstone Hotel specifically were a key destination for many Torontonians
this Sunday afternoon.
Rabbi Spero tells us about Kensington's history
The historic Gladstone
Hotel is another heritage property owned by Urban Space
Properties. Another member of the prominent Zeidler family, Christina
Zeidler, was responsible for reinventing this historic property.
Ground for the original hotel was broken in 1889 and the original
owner, Susanna Robinson, was a widow who operated and lived at the
hotel with 13 children. This hotel was originally located right
opposite 3 major train stations: the Grand Trunk Railway, the CPR
and the CNR. None of the train stations are in existence any longer,
and the Gladstone is no longer the last place to get liquor before
reaching Hamilton as it once was.
The Gladstone Hotel
The Gladstone is the oldest continuously operating hotel in Toronto,
built in the Richardsonian Romanesque Style which was so popular
during Victorian times. Two restored pillars in the hotel’s
Melody Bar are unique in Toronto for their faux marble finish, using
a true European fresco technique.
The Gladstone’s elevator is one of the last hand-operated
elevators in Toronto and the common areas on the second, third and
fourth floors are used for photo exhibitions. The second floor provides
ten adjoining rooms for meetings, workshops or exhibitions. During
our visit there were a number of different artists on display, one
piece of art in particular caught my attention: a large framed photo
montage with many small photos depicting “Things I Left In
The Fridge Too Long”. I thought this was a particularly humorous
and relevant piece of art and I think I even recognized some of
the items shown on the pictures from my own failed refrigeration
experiments....
One of the hotel rooms at the Gladstone
We had a chance to see 2 of the 37 hotel rooms, all of which are
unique and designed by different artists. The hotel also features
two special suites: the two-story Tower Suite, also known as the
“Rock Star Suite”, and the luxurious third floor Corner
Suite, both of which provide magnificent views of the city. Unfortunately
we weren’t able to catch a glimpse of these special rooms,
something that would have interested me greatly.
My savoury lunch at the Ballroom Café
After our tour it was close to 4 pm and Doors Open 2006 had officially
come to an end. We took the opportunity to sit down in the Ballroom
Café, located right next to the beautifully restored 250
seat Ballroom at the Gladstone Hotel. We snuck in our brunch order
just before brunch was finished. I savoured a Grilled Vegetable
Mufuletta Sandwich with a tasty side salad of mixed greens in a
balsamic vinaigrette while Shauna partook of the Eggs Florentine
with salmon. The food was delicious and well-deserved after a whole
day of explorations, celebrating Toronto’s architectural heritage
and social history.
Final lesson: Toronto's architectural treasures are all about the
people and the communities that they serve and Doors Open is a great
teaching tool to learn about Toronto's social history.
Two young girls having fun, dancing to the band at the Gladstone
Related Articles:
An interview with Kristen Juschkewitsch, one of the organizers
of Doors Open
My experiences at Doors
Open in 2005
Toronto's
festivals, parks and sports opportunities
Toronto's sights,
culture and shopping
Toronto, a pretty
hip place
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