Royal Bank Plaza: 200 Bay Street
Era: Post-War
Style: Post-Modern
The Royal Bank Plaza was completed in 1976 by Webb Zerafa Menkes & Housden Architects of Toronto. It encompasses the eastern portion of the block defined by Bay, Wellington, Front and York streets, and is bounded by the Royal York Hotel and TD-Waterhouse Tower. The Royal Bank Plaza is significant in that it marks many firsts in Toronto’s office tower development. The project was the first major bank tower to be constructed on Front Street and away from the King Street corridor. This brought Front Street into the post-war era. Further it was the first major project in the financial district to break from the ‘modernist box’, and opt for two towers atop a significant podium, rather than the predominant ‘tower in the plaza’ formation. The project also brought the PATH system south; connecting the Toronto Dominion Centre with the Royal York Hotel and Union Station. Originally the Podium between the towers contained a grand multi story volume accessible to the public. This has been subsequently filled in with office floors.
Aesthetically, Royal Bank Plaza is one of the most easily recognized and striking buildings on the Toronto skyline. Consisting of a glass envelope of faceted mirrored panels, it is illuminated with refracted images of the city around it. Unique to the project is the innovative use of gold in the glazing, which acts to reduced the heating load. The metal also renders reflected light in a bright golden hue even in the greyest of winter days. An elevated public plaza at the building’s western side between the Royal Bank Tower and the Royal York Hotel allows generous views of Union Station to the south and the TD Centre to the north. However, this plus 15 system never functioned as intended and access is now limited to business hours. Furthermore, it acts as an impediment to north south pedestrian flows as well as being a substantial visual barrier between the TD Centre plaza and Union Station.
The Royal Bank Plaza is a signature building in the Toronto skyline. It sits on an extremely prominent site, at the foot of Bay Street and in direct view of Union Station. It breaks from classic modernism, reconceptualized the form of an office complex in the financial district, and was the first of the post war megaprojects to be designed solely by a Canadian firm.
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CN Tower: 301 Front Street
Era: Post-War
Style: Late Modern
Heritage Status: Municipally Listed 1992
The CN Tower, completed in 1976, has stood as the world’s tallest building and free standing structure since its completion. The tower was designed by John Andrews International, E.R. Baldwin, and WZMH Architects. At 553 metres, the CN Tower is currently considered one of the world’s largest freestanding structures. The CN Tower began as the communication tower component of the massive railway lands development project known as the Metro Centre, proposed by CN/CP railways in 1968. The Metro Centre project was enormous in scope - encompassing an area from Yonge to Bathurst streets, and from Front Street to the Gardiner Expressway. It contained extensive office, residential, transportation and recreational functions, and was to connect the city to the lake. However, the project was cancelled due to the public outcry due to the required demolition of Union Station. This event led to the election of the reform council, ushering in a new era of city politics and planning.
The CN Tower survived the cancellation of the Metro Centre due to the necessity of its function as a communications tower. As the tower was now to be built in isolation, CN railways, the key developer of the project, took to opportunity to make the tower an urban entertainment destination and international landmark, and symbol of the success of Canadian Industry.
The tower is located as the foot of John Street, south of Front Street. At the time of construction, it was the lone structure in the area, surrounded by the rail lands and industrial buildings. Since completion there has been a steady infilling, including projects such as the Roger’s Centre, Metro Convention Centre and the Cityplace condominium neighbourhood.
The Tower’s concrete design is representative of Toronto’s fascination with concrete during the late 1960’s and 1970’s. Other contemporaneous projects include Robarts Library and Medical Science Buildings at the University of Toronto’s St. George Campus, as well as the University of Toronto’s Scarborough Campus – another project of John Andrews. The style is also consistent with contemporaneous international examples of ‘tv towers’, such as those of Moscow and Berlin. The CN Tower stands as Canada’s modern monument.
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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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156 Front Street West
Era: Pre-War
Style: Turn-of-the-Century Industrial
156 Front Street is a six story industrial building adjacent to the rail lands north of Front between Simcoe and John streets dating from 1905. The building is bounded by 144-146 Front Street to the east and a vacant parking lot to the west. The red brick building’s facade contains piers with inset fenestration, and a detailed undulating cornice at its roofline. The structure is more subdued than its neighbour, lacking the arches, accentuated lintels and rusticated base of 144-146 Front Street, although they are versions of the same type.
Currently the building is host to office and retail tenants. The building is more in keeping with the character of the entertainment district, with many restaurant patios and tourists centred services at grade. It acts as a transition point between the financial centre of Toronto and the hospitality and convention area to the west. The building takes good advantage of the open space provided by the adjacent parking lot as the west side contains several entrances and patios, providing views of Front and Simcoe streets.
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Gardiner Expressway
Era: Post-War
Style: Modern Infrastructure
The development of this expressway was part of Fred Gardiner’s vision of a modern Toronto. As Metropolitan Toronto’s first Chairman, he was instrumental in the development of the Gardiner Expressway beginning in 1955. Built in an industrial zone at the foot of the city, the expressway modernized access to the centre of the city and from the city to its suburbs during a period of rapid growth. It was a nascent project in the process of creating regional infrastructure for the newly created Metropolitan region. The expressway was planned in conjunction with the rapid transit network as part of the comprehensive transportation planning of the region. The Gardiner Expressway was the first of several highways planned for the Toronto area, most of which were never realized.
Currently the city has a contentious relationship with the Gardiner Expressway as a result of a change in use of the central waterfront. As new solutions are realized in managing transportation in an increasingly post-industrial mixed-use waterfront and urban core, the
Gardiner Expressway remains as an important piece of the City’s early modern heritage and contributing element to the function and character of the Union Station Heritage Conservation District.
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