Toronto Architecture

August 2017 - Toronto ON

Some more of my wanderings around town.




Other buildings/sculptures closeby and definitely worth a visit.

Canada Permanent Trust
Concourse Building
Old City Hall is in this area and there are links to it below.
City Hall or Nathan's Square just a sample.
 Sculptures at City Hall



Details from the Historic Toronto site.

The Graphic Arts Building is located at 73 Richmond Street, a short distance west of Yonge Street. Built in 1913, for over a century is has survived, and is now nestled among the high-rise towers of the financial district. The amazing Graphic Art Building would not appear out of place amid the temples of Rome or Athens. Its classical facades contains Ionic columns and the cornice has classical designs. The four-storey building has a limestone base, the same stone employed in the cornice. Its architect was Francis S. Baker.

For many years, the building was the headquarters of “Saturday Night” magazine, originally founded in the 1873 by a cartoonist, J. W. Bengough. At one time he had been employed by the “Globe” newspaper, which in later years became “The Globe and Mail.” “Saturday Night” was a satirical weekly publication that became known as the voice of Liberalism in Canada. Bernard Keble Sandman was its editor in 1932, and remained in this position until 1952.

An historic plaque on the building commemorates his tenure as editor. The magazine featured such writers as E. Pauline Johnson. Archibald Lampman, Stephen Leacock, John McCrae, and Robertson Davies. Margaret Atwood received her first national exposure through stories published in the magazine. Robertson Davies began his literary career at “Saturday Night,” and was its editor during the 1940s. Later, Robert Fulford was an editor. Such artists as C. W. Jefferys, Tom Thomson and other members of the Group of Seven worked at “Saturday Night.”

Saturday Night eventually relocated from the prestigious building on Richmond Street. It ceased publishing in 2005, and today the building is a mid-rise condominium, with 65 loft units.

Across the street is the Victory Art Deco Building.

it was built on the site of the old Gaiety Theatre. Following the demolition of the theatre, they planned a 29-storey skyscraper, designed by the architectural firm of Baldwin and Greene. This company also designed the Concourse Building on Adelaide Street. They began work on the Victory Building in May of 1929 and worked feverishly through the summer months and early autumn. However, construction stopped when the stock market crashed in October of that year. It had been completed to about the 20th floor, the bricks reaching as high as the 18th. It remained in an unfinished state for 8 years. One of the the newspapers at the time referred to it as a ghost tower, a reminder of better days. When completed in 1937, it was topped at 20 storeys, shorter than originally planned. The first tenants moved in April 1, 1937, enjoying year-round air conditioning and heating from equipment supplied by General Electric.


The Victory Building in 1936, when construction was halted at the 20th floor, with brickwork complete to the 18th. This was a high as the structure was to extend. When construction resumed, the bricks were simply added to the two top floors. The view looks east on Richmond Street toward Yonge Street. Photo from the City of Toronto Archives.

Chapman and Oxley was a Toronto based architectural firm which responsible for designing a number of prominent buildings in the city in the 1920s and 1930s.
They also were responsible for the ROM or Royal Ontario Museum.

This is the Northern Ontario Building at 330 Bay St.with Old City Hall in the background.
Click here for photos of Old City Hall and here for details about the bells.
And even more photos here.

In the lobby a piece by Henry Moore called Three Way Piece # 1.