From architectural caterpillar to Art Deco butterfly: Waterworks Food Hall

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While this space is not in the habit of navel-gazing, it still stings when considering the lost opportunity at the new St. Lawrence Market north building.

While the new structure (by Rogers Stirk Harbour & Parners with Adamson Associates) is handsome enough, it was noted here after a trip to Rotterdam and a tour of the then-new Markthal (Market Hall) by MVRDV in October, 2014 that the decision to place “transient, depressing” municipal courtrooms above the public space rather than housing and retail was a surefire way to suck life and tourism from the street.

And while that may have been a little harsh – it’s hard to kill the vitality of Front and Jarvis streets – another area of Toronto has taken the reigns instead with something European. Something lively. Something needed. Something innovative and risky. And, as is often the case, it took a private developer to get it done.

Occupying an entire block along Richmond Street West between Brant and Maud streets is the Waterworks Food Hall by MOD Developments and Woodcliffe Landmark Properties. Located inside a city-divested 1932 garage and waterworks machine shop (by City of Toronto architect John James Woolnough), the complex also includes a midrise residential building boasting 288 condo units (Diamond Schmitt) and a fully equipped YMCA. On the books since 2016 and built in phases, the Food Hall finally opened to rave reviews last month.

“You start from a shell of 20,000 square feet, an old machine shop, overhead cranes, a connection [to the street] that was blocked up, no real basement to utilize,” says MOD vice-president of construction Aidan Ball. “Gary [Switzer, CEO] and our partner, Woodcliffe, travelled the world investigating the concept of food halls – what worked, what didn’t work – and brought that concept back to Toronto.”

So, what separates a European-style food hall from the ubiquitous North American food court? Much of it has to do with the size of the individual units and where the back-of-house is located.

“In a food court they have all of their storage right behind them, which is why you need 600 square feet,” explains Mr. Switzer. By comparison, European food halls feature restaurants in the 150 to 200 sq. ft. range: “What we saw in Madrid and Copenhagen, they’d have an upstairs or back-loaded things; and we realized you can’t have those tiny units if you don’t have this down here.”

“This down here” is the enormous basement level that Mr. Switzer and Mr. Ball realized would have to be created if they wanted to replicate what they’d seen. A basement that would contain the following: public washrooms; storage rooms for 20 vendors; draft beer systems; staff washrooms and change rooms; shared dishwashing facilities; mechanical and electrical rooms; and parking.

And, while excavating to create space for all of that, there was the little matter of that north row of steel beams: while, previously their job had been to hold up that lovely skylit roof 44 feet above the ground, they’d now have to support a 13-storey condominium tower as well. But, since MOD and Woodcliffe both pride themselves in heritage preservation, their replacements would have look as close to the originals as possible. And, since getting that right wasn’t enough, the team also decided the food hall could use a mezzanine, which hadn’t existed before. Oh, and one that looked as if it had been designed by Mr. Woolnough in 1932.

Photographs of the process not only document the incredible amount of work – piles of earth, temporary bracing, the creation of the metal mezzanine – but display the Herculean moves it sometimes takes to make the end result look effortless.

Walking (and dining at) Waterworks Food Hall last week, this author was struck by the community this project has created almost instantly. Groups of office workers on their lunch break, tourists staying at the Ace Hotel across the street, local retirees – all deciding what to eat, looking up at the restored glassy ceiling (much had been boarded up) or the artist-painted globes over the kiosks, setting up laptops in a cozy corner for impromptu meetings, or exiting from newly created doorways onto St. Andrew’s Playground Park.

And to ensure all of that life and activity will continue into the evening, the mezzanine has ample space for private events and corporate seminars. It will also contain Civil Works, a cocktail bar created by Nick Kennedy, owner of the award-winning Civil Liberties Bar at 878 Bloor St. W. With its tall, art deco windows behind the bar, patrons will be able to squint and pretend they’re imbibing in New York’s Chrysler Building. And the drinks? Well, they’ll taste like they’re from a lot of places, says Mr. Kennedy.

“In the back bar is a water filtration plant, we’re going to demineralize water and remineralize it to [places] around the world, so we’ve got six waters on tap …[such as] Kentucky flint water, which has a really high limestone and then water from la Bataille,” he says, smiling at Mr. Switzer, who gave them the green light to open. “We said ‘here’s a bunch of crazy ideas’ and we thought the answer would be ‘no’ but it was ‘tell us more.’”

Is it crazy to transform a former garage/machine shop into a kind of industrial Crystal Palace of Food? I don’t think so: 51 per cent of Toronto’s inhabitants were born elsewhere; our palates are becoming more sophisticated; and in a city that sports more Victorian to art deco warehouses than architectural showpieces, it’s befitting to transform these bricks-and-mortar caterpillars into beautiful butterflies.