St Michael's Pumphouse, Toronto

I don't know a lot about this building. It happens I'd rather get a photo or three than find out what the building is. I think it was part of a school.

Royal York Hotel, Toronto

Since the mid 19th Century this site in Toronto has been the location of a hotel under various names. Sword's Hotel and the Revere Hotel laid the foundations for the Queen's Hotel which became a much loved institution into the 20th Century until the Canadian Pacific Railway announced that they wed going to build a new hotel on the site which is directly opposite Union Station.

The Queen's Hotel was demolished and in 1927 work commenced on what was promised to be the largest hotel in the British Commonwealth. It was named the Royal York Hotel and was officially opened on 11 June 1929 and quickly became the byword for the best in hospitality. In later years the hotel became part of the Fairmont group and is known as the Fairmont Royal York Hotel.

Reference:
Fairmont Royal York Hotel website

Prudential House, Toronto

Prudential House, at 55 York Street, Toronto was designed by architects Kaplan & Sprachman and completed in 1929.

It features some lovely decoration, especially above the ground floor windows.

Reference:
Prudential House, EMPORIS

Cloverhill Apartments, Toronto

This is Cloverhill Apartments in Toronto built in 1939 and designed by John Gibb Morton.

The green awning at the entrance is a later, unsympathetic, addition. Older photos should a more elegant entrance canopy with slender metal letters spelling out the name of the apartments as late as the 1990s.
Reference:

Art Deco Architecture in Toronto, Tim Morawetz, Glue Inc, Toronto, 2009

Travel Today - A Monster Steam Engine of 1930

This is a mural in Toronto with the caption Travel Today - A Monster Steam Engine of 1930.

Beavers, Canada

Architects during the Art Deco period often incorporated local flora and fauna into the decoration of the buildings. Here's a collection of beavers from Toronto, Ottawa & Montreal.

Old Toronto Stock Exchange

Here are some cropped photos of Charles Comfort's frieze on the façade of the old Toronto Stock Exchange building (Samuel Maw, 1937). It is now used as the Design Exchange but whoever decided to put the ornamental lamp posts right in front of the frieze perhaps should go back to design school.

Reference:
Art Deco Architecture in Toronto, by Tim Morawetz

Horse Palace, Toronto

Tomorrow, the first Tuesday in November, sees the running of the Melbourne Cup. A horse race. Indeed the 'race that stops the nation'. And those of us who work in the Melbourne metropolitian area get a Public Holiday to enjoy the celebration. 2010 marks the 150th running of the Melbourne Cup so it has a long tradition in this town and so I'd like to show you some ...

Not just any horses, these beautiful Art Deco reliefs come from the Horse Palace in Toronto.

This massive complex was erected in 1931 as part of the Exhibition Place grounds where various agricultural fairs and exhibitions have been held since 1878.

It was designed by City of Toronto architect, John James Woolnough, and his team including Kenneth S Gillies, assistant architect and Stanley T J Fryer, designer.

Today, still considered one of the finest equestrian facilities in Canada it is used by the Riding Academy, the Toronto Police Mounted Unit and Toronto Animal Services.

Besides the representation of horses, the building has many other Art Deco features.

There are wonderful sets of red, black and glass doors and pairs of copper lights sitting on columns above the entrances.

Sections with geometric designs such as these three semi-circular areas on this part of the facade.

Chiselled lines create a series of horizontal or vertical elements separating and highlighting other features of the design such as the windows and relief carvings.

All over the building bricks are used to provice contrasting horizontal bands to the grey stonework.

In one particular section, three porthole windows are included in a relatively large expanse of brickwork.

An octagonal tower topped with a copper dome forms an inportant part of the Horse Palace. The facade below the tower features a large vertical setback area that has a large window and zig-zag decoration at its top which is semi-circular thereby mirroring the tower. This setback is flanked on each side by a pair of curious, squat columns.

There appears to be no reference to to horses at this end of the building but this incorrect. The blocks at the corners at the base of the tower are actually stylised horses heads.

So in honour of the 24 horses that will enter the starting gates for the 150th Melbourne Cup tomorrow, I present a palace for horses on the other side of the world.

References:
Horse Palace History, The Riding Academy website
Art Deco Architecture in Toronto, by Tim Morawetz

Maple Leaf Gardens, Toronto

Maple Leaf Gardens designed by architects Ross & McDonald was constructed in 1931.

It served as the home of the Toronto Maple Leafs hockey team until 1999 when they moved to the Air Canada Centre.

In recent years this historic stadium has remained vacant but current negotiations could see it re-open to the public complete with ice rink.

References:
Toronto Maple Leafs Official Website
Friends of Maple Leaf Gardens Website

R C Harris Filtration Plant, Toronto

The R C Harris Filtration Plant takes water from Lake Ontario and processes potable water for Toronto.

The building was named for Rowland Caldwell Harris, Commissioner of Works for the Toronto 1912-1945.

It was built from 1932-1941 and the original plant and additions in the 1950s to increase the capacity were designed by and the construction was supervised by the consulting engineering firms of H G Acres Limited and Gore and Storrie Limited.

For a water filtration plant, it has some very nice decoration including this 'WTW' monogram.

Bank of Nova Scotia, Toronto

Despite a construction date of 1951, the Bank of Nova Scotia in King St West, Toronto offers a lot for fans of Art Deco architecture.

The answer, as explained in Tim Morawetz's book Art Deco Architecture in Toronto is that the initial design was done by John M Lyle between 1929-36 but died before the building was constructed.

The building was redesigned and completed by Mathers and Haldenby with Beck and Eadie between 1946-51.

My favourite part of the building are the reliefs depicting figures from classical mythology by artist Frederick Winkler.

An Apartment Block in Toronto

Another deco building snapped from the car in a strange city. This is an apartment block in Toronto, somewhere out near the R C Harris Filtration Plant in the east of the city.

The decoration above the door can be seen on other apartment blocks around Toronto.

Round Room, The Carlu, Toronto

The highlight of Eaton's College Park store in Toronto was the Round Dining Room on the seventh floor. Now, the Round Room is the highlight of The Carlu which now occupies the seventh floor after a multi-million dollar restoration.

The room, like the rest of the seventh floor, was designed by Jacques Carlu and included large murals by his wife Natacha.

At regular points around the room their are rounded alcoves that can be used as casual seating areas or small stage areas.

Literally, though, the centre of attention is the fountain in the middle of the room consisting of layers of Lalique glass.

7th Floor Lobby, The Carlu, Toronto

Towards the end of October 1930, Eaton's opened their College Park store in Toronto with the undoubted highlight of the building the seventh floor.

Lady Eaton commissioned French designer Jacques Carlu to design the seventh floor. Carlu had designed the interiors of the great ocean liners Normandie and Ile de France which were particular favourites of Lady Eaton.

The seventh floor consisted of a huge lobby, circular dining room, an auditorium and a number of lounges and offices.

By the mid 1970s, the taste for these spaces had declined. Eaton's had moved to a new retail complex closer to downtown and the fabulous seventh floor was sealed up. What remained, although damaged and compromised from the original design, was protected by its designation as a national Historic Site by the Supreme Court of Canada.

The seventh floor remained empty for almost 30 years but after a multi-million dollar restoration it has emerged as The Carlu an Event Space like no other.

I was lucky to visit The Carlu as part of the Doors Open Toronto program in May 2009.

The three photos so far have been of the seventh floor lift lobby but this small office or lounge was also open for viewing.

I don't know if this was added during the restoration or was part of the original design. I don't think that matters.

It is a fabulous space which leads through to the Round Room.