Restorations ready a downtown Toronto niche for the next generation

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As the second decade of the 2000s hit Toronto, the old Fisherman’s Wharf restaurant on Richmond Street West just wasn’t luring them in as much any more. So, by 2015, the neon waves were shut off and a big “For Lease” sign took the place of the little, posted catch-of-the-day menu.

Today, the quirky little building that had been wedged between the stately, columned Graphic Arts Building and the red brick building at 67 Richmond St. W. is only a memory. And, in its place, two ceremonial gates clad in luscious, Italian, blue-glazed brick lead the way to a new, outdoor dining spot.

“We tore down a building in downtown Toronto to create an alleyway and plant trees,” Dream Unlimited’s Brad Keast said with a laugh.

But Dream has done more than that. Across from the new alley sits the 1929 Victory Building, which, for decades, had its ground floor entombed in chunky pink granite. In 2020, under the leadership of heritage superheroes ERA Architects, the (very 1980s) granite was removed to reveal the original black granite underneath. But, basically smashed to bits from the pink granite’s anchor system, a decision had to be made as to how to reclad the wall. Would it be a complete reproduction of what was there, a new interpretation based on the original brown and buff brick that begins at the second floor, or a dreamy and expensive recreation of what had been intended in 1929?

The original proposal for the Victory Building, you see, was for a taller, 26-storey building by Baldwin & Greene with a stepped back, art deco top and ornate detailing on the first three floors. But the onset of the Depression caused a halt in construction for more than seven years. New ownership in the mid-1930s saw the building completed in 1937, but capped at 21-storeys and with a pared down design. Thankfully, owner Alfred R. Roberts was a fan of Lord Nelson and HMS Victory, so he retained the name (originally meant to celebrate the Great War).

Dream chose the second option, so ERA designed an intricate bond pattern that took inspiration from the never-built art deco vertical flourishes, using green glazed brick to cast the eye upward (although this writer wonders why the cement panels between the first and second storey windows weren’t painted green to match the original skyscraper-patterned spandrel panels above).

“Some of the original renders that we saw from the 20s [showed] that the building was reading much more vertical, as opposed to articulating that horizontal podium, and that’s what we were trying to pick up on,” said Shelley Ludman, senior associate at ERA.

Black granite that was salvaged from the original façade was cut and used as the building’s sidewalk ‘kickplate,’ and an appropriate font and light fixtures were chosen. For their efforts, ERA won Heritage Toronto’s Heritage Planning and Architecture Award in October, 2023.

As Mr. Keast takes Ms. Ludman and this writer down the new alleyway, designed for the restaurant Daphne by Studio Paolo Ferrari, to look at the other Dream-owned buildings that make up their Bay Street Village project, it’s likely other awards will follow.

As owners of nine properties all a stone’s throw from one another, Dream has done what few developers choose to do: create a dense, enriching and safe urban experience for the pedestrian.

Exiting the new alleyway into the old one beside 67 Richmond St., we see interventions to the backsides of 360 and 366 Bay St. in the form of wider entrances/exits (so someone in the alley can see through to Bay Street) and a large, new curtain wall where small punched windows had been.

“We started looking at laneways in Melbourne, London has some interesting stuff, New York, Tokyo of course, and then started trying to figure out, okay, what can we do?,” said Mr. Keast. “So we said, let’s make this a great spot to be.”

Of course, to make it great, they had to reorganize garbage and recycling, relocate numerous mechanical units, fix potholes and level the ground to rid it of standing water, and clean up the broken needles and graffiti. And it worked. “In the summer, this gets packed,” said Mr. Keast.

Walking south to narrow Temperance Street, Mr. Keast takes us inside No. 56 to see the mid-century inspired lobby by Studio Paolo Ferrari. While small, the exquisite detailing causes us to linger.

The lobby at Dream’s 350 Bay St., however, shines above all others. Even from the street, the glare is overpowering, but we venture inside and discover a sort of commercial Tutankhamen’s tomb that has been brought out of the darkness.

“It’s incredible,” Ms. Ludman says upon seeing all the restored bronze detailing.

“Everything on the outside was basically brown, and we hired these metal restorers and, the first day after a couple of hours, they said: ‘Do you realize your door frames are bronze?’” In this lobby, Dream even decided to stick with the old school, framed and name-plated building directory rather than kill the mood with a digital screen.

While construction prevents us from entering the lobby of the 1982 addition to the 1925 Northern Ontario Building (330 Bay St.), Mr. Keast reassures us that the 1928 façade of the Savarin Tavern is still there, and will shine brighter than ever in the new space. And, with a new exterior lighting package on all of the buildings (by Lightstudio), the entire area has been lit up like never before.

In an age where too many corporations play the short game, it’s exciting to discover one that plays the long and more expensive game – one that’s focused on the urban experience.

“We’re making these buildings ready for the next hundred years,” said Mr. Keast.