Excerpt from www1.toronto.ca:
Royal York Hotel: 100 Front Street West
Era: Pre-War
Style: Chateau
Heritage Status: Municipally Listed 1974
The Royal York Hotel was completed in 1929 in anticipation of the completion of Union Station. It was designed by the Montreal architects Ross and Macdonald who also worked
on Union Station, in conjunction with the Toronto firm of Sproatt and Rolph.
According to the listing information:
“At the time of its opening as the flagship of the Canadian Pacific Railway chain of hotels, it was the largest hotel in North America, as well as the tallest building in the British Empire. The hotel also included an underground connection to Union Station, marking an early beginning to the PATH system. The Royal York is noted as an excellent example of Chateau design; a style favoured by the Canadian Pacific Railway for its accommodations.
The design is distinguished by its picturesque copper clad roof, which is visible from many vantage points in downtown Toronto.”
Situated to the west end of the block of Front Street between York and Bay streets, the hotel was designed in anticipation of Federal Avenue proposed by John Lyle in 1911. The building’s exterior character is defined by its stepped massing and limestone facade. Additional contributing elements, include the building’s bronze and copper detailing and its distinctive rooftop signage. A complementary east wing was added in the 1950’s, as the John Lyle plan failed to fully materialise. While this addition shares many contributing exterior elements, it was not part of the building’s original design and is not regarded as a significant heritage attribute for the district in that it blocked the expansion of the Beaux-Arts plan symetrically centred on Union Station.
The primary interior spaces of the Royal York have been a point of intersection for visitors and residents of Toronto for three quarters of a century, and as a result hold particular heritage interest. The main lobby, which encompasses the majority of the ground floor, acts as the hotel’s public space under its beamed and coffered, painted wood ceiling. The more private space of the Imperial Library Bar, Imperial Room and the 18th floor Ballroom, have held many prominent social functions and become embedded cultural history of the Toronto.
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