Why I Love The Architects of Toronto

Edmund Burke

Birth: October 31, 1850 (Toronto)

Death: January 2, 1919 (Toronto)

Biography: At one point in Toronto crossing from Bloor directly to the Danforth was a hassle because of the Don Valley below. There was no easy way for people to get around other than going south and back up north or vice versa. However, that was all changed when Edmund Burke built the stunning Prince Edward Viaduct that connected Bloor to the Danforth. 

Born on Halloween to William Burke and Sarah Langley (yes, Burke was related to Henry Langley hence his participation in the family firm Langley, Langley and Burke) in Toronto. It was Uncle Henry Langley who gave him his first architectural apprenticeship.  After the apprenticeship with his uncle he went into a partnership with him.

Burke would eventually work on his own for a few years before becoming part of the firm Burke and Horwood and later the firm Burke, Horwood and White. All three men were taught by Burke’s uncle and were well known for their portfolio of churches, mansions and commercial establishments. One of my favorite buildings that Burke contributed to with Horwood was The Bay’s Flagship location on Queen (then Robert Simpson Store). The original building was done solely by Burke, but burned down weeks before it was set to open. Then with the help of Horwood the two were able to rebuild the structure – which made headlines for being fire-proof. 

Burke, Horwood and White would have one of the most successful architectural firms before World War One in Canada.  After Burke died in 1919 the firm dropped his name an became Horwood and White until it dissolved in 1969.

The active Torontonian also worked with the city in their urban planning efforts. One of his major projects was improving the flow of traffic in Toronto, in which one of the solutions became the Prince Edward Viaduct.

Burke also helped pave the wave for many of the architects on this list to work in the profession. He played a vital role in helping codify standards of practice and education for the architectural field for he wanted to ensure that Canadian architects could compete with those of the United States. He established and led the Ontario Association of Architects and was a founding member of the Royal Architecture Institute of Canada.

I have to love Burke simply because he built the structure that would house one of my favourite stores The Bay – which I told my friend is my adult version of Disneyland. However, Burke and his firm’s contributions to churches, banks and schools will forever be focal points in the Toronto architectural landscape. 

 Edmund Burke Featured in Why I Love Toronto


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Why I Love The Architects of Toronto

Henry Langley

Birth: November 26, 1836 (Toronto)

Death: January 9, 1907 (Toronto at the Necropolis Cemetery)

Biography: A born Torontonian, Henry Langley began his career in architecture through an apprenticeship with William Hay. His first venture as an architect was with Hay’s old partner Thomas Grundy, but became a prominent architectural figure when he joined the firm Langley, Langley (Edward Langley, his brother) and Burke (who was his nephew) in 1872. Langley stayed with the firm until he decided to retire.

Langley’s foray in architecture was churches in which he built a reported 70 across Ontario. He was so famous with his work for churches that he would be called upon to alter and expand them.    

Even though Langley was known predominantly for his churches he did dabble in residential and public spaces including Post Offices and the homes of William McMaster and Robert Simpson.

Langley even taught some other prominent Toronto architects who will be featured in the coming weeks including Frank Darling, and J.C.B. Horwood. Langley was the founder the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts and the Ontario Association of Architects.

Langley died today in 1907 and was buried in the Necropolis Cemetery located in Cabbagetown. Langley was responsible for the church, superintendents lodge and gates that reside on the property.

Notable Buildings featured by Why I Love Toronto   

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Chapman and Oxley

Alfred Hirschfelder Chapman

Birth: December 8, 1878 (Toronto, Ontario)

Death: 1948

Biography Chapman: I would like to first point out that this born Torontonian went to Harbord Collegiate Institute which is still around today, but I digress. Alfred H. Chapman worked as an apprentice to Beaumont Jarvis and even worked with Burke and Horwood. However, Chapman did not stay with Burke and Horwood for long before he decided to leave for Paris, France to study at the Ecole Nationale et Special des Beaux-Arts. He studied in Paris until 1902 and eventually went to work in New York City before returning home in 1907.

Upon his return he began a partnership with Robert B. McGiffin and eventually added Scott in in 1911. Scott departed from the team in 1912 and the original partnership of Chapman and McGiffin broke off in 1919. However, it was in 1919 when Chapman went into business with James Morrow Oxley, a team who built some of the city’s most memorable buildings.

In his personal life Chapman was married to Doris Helen Dennison (a musician) and had six children together, one who would carry on his father legacy as an architect. Chapman was also the heir to Bell Ewart Ice and Fuel Company.

James Morrow Oxley

Birth: September 12, 1883 (Halifax, Nova Scotia)

Death: October 8, 1957 (Toronto, Ontario)

Biography of Oxley: Oxley unlike most people who will appear on this list is considered in biographies as the engineering partner of Chapman. He moved to Toronto so that he could study at the School of Practical Science at the University of Toronto.

His early career ventures included working for Dominion Bridge Co. and the Canada Foundry Co. Eventually he became the other half of the firm Chadwick & Oxley until 1909. Later he became chief engineer at McGregor and McIntyre Steel Works and started Harkness & Oxley Structural Engineers. One of his first interactions with future partner Chapman was when he helped with the structural design of Chapman and McGiffin’s Knox College and R.S. William Tower. After serving with the Canadian Expeditionary Forces in France, Chapman offered him to become partner of a new firm. 

I personally have be able to experience a large number of the firms buildings. I am a frequent shopper at The Bay on Queen Street (although when the pair did the addition it was a Simpson’s Department Store). I occasionally studied in Knox College either in the library or quad, had my prom in Liberty Grand, entered through the Princes Gates during the CNE, lay on the Runnymede Theatre floor as a I read a book and have sat on the beach in front of the Sunnyside bathing Pavillion during a break from my bike. There are many more buildings that this firm contributed to Toronto, but it is these that I have had a personal encounter with.

Notable Buildings featured by Why I Love Toronto

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Why I Love Toronto
CP24 Chum Christmas Wish

Hey Toronto here is an update to a post I did last year (and which you can read below!). The traditional CP24 Chum Christmas Wish is tomorrow (December 1 2012) between 11am and 2pm. If you give an unwrapped toy tomorrow you can get a tour of the historic 299 Queen Street West building which includes BNN, Much and of course CP24!

Continue for the original post below!

Why I Love Toronto At Christmas Reason #112

CP24 Chum Christmas Wish

Every Year The Chum/CTV/ Bell media (whatever its called now) family holds their annual toy drive in which if you donate a new toy to a child in need you get a tour of the historic 299 Queen Street West building. This is a fabulous tradition, because not only do you help a child by giving them something to unwrap at Christmas, but you also get the pleasure of touring one of the most famous buildings in the city.

No unfortunately I can never donate a toy in person, because I always at work, but I have been in 299 Queen Street West several times, for VJ auditions, Internship inquires, LIVE @ Much’s and even Much On Demand, I’ve even slept outside to get wristbands for the MMVA’s.

The building is just a treat in itself. It has a neo-gothic terra cotta façade and has been used for broadcasting since 1987. It was designed in 1913 by Edmund Burke (reason #39, which you can see some similarities in the façade), Horwood and White as a Methodist Church of Canada until 1959. It was then taken over by the Ryerson Press until it was converted in 1987. The façade is the only thing that remains from the original building as the inside has been torn out and modernized to meet the needs of the studios of the shows the building houses. However, the building still holds many historical qualities. Just by standing in front of the building and looking up into the sky you will notice some of the most amazing carvings in the façade. Also the lights at the main entrance are what I personally love because they look like they should be illuminating light via a candle.   

However, like I said even though the inside has been modernized it is still historical. Remember what I said bout reason #100? While I was in reason #100 I could not help but jump in excitement simply because of the prospect that I may have been walking in the same spot as Elvis. The same is with 299 Queen Street West, because since the building has become a broadcast headquarters it has brought with it so much history and has become an icon for Toronto. It is a pop culture icon that has seen crowds of people hovering outside the building to see some of the biggest stars in the world. For those of us who have the pleasure to go on the Give a Toy get a Tour day or have just been inside for New.Music.Live show’s or LIVE @ Much’s , when you walk down those hallways, get lost on your way to the bathroom or stand in one spot waiting to on a live taping of something, you may be there and you may be thinking to yourself, I walking the same way  Britney and Gaga have walked, or I am standing in the same place where Ricky Martin performed at his LIVE @ Much.  

The building has been become known for its pop culture, but also for hosting the hottest concerts in town, for the tourist peering in the window and for the place where Toronto gets its news 24 hours a day seven days a week. The building houses many things, CP24, MuchMusic, Etalk, MuchMore, BNN, Bravo etc. It even hosted my favorite shows/  dream job the Electric Circus – so basically it housed a club! Also it was home to Breakfest Television and Cityline when CityTV was a part of CHUM

So why do I love Toronto at Christmas? Well its because we all come together to give a child a Christmas they otherwise would not have, and we also get to do it at one of the most famous buildings in the city.

That is why I love Toronto at Christmas

http://www.cp24.com/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20100414/100414_bandit_ths?hub=CP24Home

Why I Love Toronto Reason #329

315 Bloor Street West (Munk School of Global Affairs Headquarters)

The reason I have put the address of this building and its name in brackets is simple.  Until recently I thought it was still the Admissions and Awards building, until my friend told me to meet her at Munk and I wound up here very confused – being a non U of T student and all. Before I go into this post I must add that this is the last U of T building to make my list and I’m kind of really sad about it!

Now I think this building has always been my favorite, but more so before it was restored because I liked the colour of the aged stone – although I have nothing against its restoration. Anyways I liked the pre-restored era of the building because the stones were old and dirty looking, but in a way that gave the building character. I personally loved the tower closest to Devonshire Place.

The building is around for a 100 years old and is an example of Romanesque Revival built by Burke (McMaster Hall/ Royal Conservatory of Music, Trinity St. Pauls United Church, The Bay of Queen Street, Bloor/ Prince Edward Viaduct) and Horwood in 1909. The building has been a heritage property since 1973. Many note the buildings tower as well as entrance at Bloor Street (which has amazing carvings of children’s faces and what I think in a skull) as being key architectural elements of the building as well as the gargoyles near the front. The building was once home to the Dominion of Meteorological Service (1909-1971) and played a major role in World War Two where it trained pilots on how to read weather patterns. The tower, I love, was called the observatory and held the Meteorological Service’s telescope.  Now I have never been up to the top of the observatory, but I assume you would get a pretty good view of the campus. It eventually became the University of Toronto Admissions and Awards Office and today it is the headquarters to the Munk School of Global Affairs. Also an interesting note is that at the side of the building there is this small shed that sits on the property. This is known/ was known as the Transit House where meteorological instruments were kept.

A previously mentioned the brick a few years ago was dirty and old giving off these dark toned colours, which I personally loved.  However, after cleaning the stone the building began to glow a yellow/ gold colour which not only brightened up the Northern entrance way to U of T, but also that portion of Bloor between St. George and Avenue Rd. It also compliments the red roof above! During the renovations and restoration a new glass entrance was built on the Devonshire side. Oh and my beloved tower has become a meeting spaces.

I think I will always like the dirty old building, for it was my first memory of U of T mostly because it had a tower which reminded me of a castle. All in all I think this is a fitting building to end the reasons Why I Love Toronto because of U of T, for I am technically ending at the beginning of U of T for many student.

That is Why I Love Toronto

http://gleanernews.ca/index.php/2012/07/13/observatory-gets-the-munk-touch/#.UA9nOzBt4l8

http://www.magazine.utoronto.ca/autumn-2010/munk-school-of-global-affairs-building-315-bloor-st-weather-observatory/

http://www.toronto.ca/involved/statutorynotices/archive2010/jul/hl_072710.htm

Why I Love Toronto Reason #276

Churches Being Turned into Condos/ Lofts

Yes I know Toronto’s Condo/ Loft market is getting out of hand. I mean they have condos popping up right next to the Gardiner expressway – so close that if a car ran into and broke the median you would have a car in your living room or from another perspective you could jump onto the highway from your balcony.  Now I will do a post on my favorite condominium buildings in the near future, but today I want to do Churches that have been turned into condominiums/ lofts. This is definitely becoming a huge craze in our city and I think it may be a tad sacrilegious.

I have to say though it is a cool concept. I mean church attendance is declining which means more churches are joining together. Instead of demolishing these abandoned Churches they are being converted and allowing people to live in the some of the most beautiful historical building this city has to offer.  So even though it may not be the right place for vampire to live because the faucets might spew out holy water and there may be some hidden crosses somewhere, I think these homes are perfect for those who love architecture and history. Below I’m going to give you my top 4 church converted condo/ lofts and briefly give you a history and some of their selling features.  

     Abby Church Lofts

Located in the High Park Area this church has some pretty awesome selling features. Get this - vaulted wood ceilings, original stained glass windows, exposed stone and brick walls, plus it has a look out from the bell tower and twisting staircases!! – I’m having an architectural orgasm right now – I’m not sure if that’s weird to say considering I’m talking about a church, but to I am. Anyways the church was built in 1910 and is absolutely stunning it almost looks like you could be living in a castle. Did I mention THE ORIGINAL STAINED GLASS?

    The Church Lofts

This neo-gothic gem was built in 1906 and is located at 701 Dovercourt and also has its original stained glass. What I love are the squished in balconies and the wood patio on top of the church which brings you a stunning view. It boasts to a restoration of the masonry, limestone, wood doors, and period light fixture.  It has this amazing quad that beams in sunlight from the most beautiful skylight I have ever seen.

     The Channel Club

Everyone has seen this church condo and they probably still thinks it is a church - I know I did until now. This condo is right on the corner of College and Bathurst and I mean right on the corner. If you ever get off the 511 streetcar at college it drops you off right in front. I just thought I’d mention that one because I always thought it was just a cool church in Little Italy.  

      St. George On Sheldrake Lofts

Once the Eglinton United Church, this 1923 building by Horwood and White (they also worked with Edmund Burke) was turned into lofts in 2001. The exterior is said to be a tribute to Oxford University’s Keeble College and has units as big as 4000 square feet.  The building welcomes you with these noteworthy dark coloured doors as well as intense brickwork. Of course it also has cathedral ceilings.

More and more Church Condo/Lofts are popping up in the tdot and I’m really excited that architects are bringing the old and placing a modern twist on it. Remember my Heritage Modernization Theory – not demolishing old building but converting them to the modern world. It is happening Toronto and these condo/ lofts are some of the nicest condo/ loft buildings in the city. Now the question if you live in an old church do church rules still apply? Like no swearing? All question that will be answered in time.

That is why I Love Toronto. 

http://www.torontolife.com/daily/informer/gimme-shelter/2011/12/02/condomonium-384-sunnyside-avenue-unit-309/attachment/dec11hotwsunnyside_23/

http://www.gracecondos.com/Listing.aspx?lid=20860&areaid=44

http://www.torontolofts.ca/loft254_church203.html

http://www.mrloft.ca/Loft-Buildings/Church-Lofts-701-Dovercourt-Rd-Toronto

Why I Love Toronto Because of Doors Open Reason #271

Trinity St. Paul Church and centre for Faith, Justice and the Arts

When I studied at Robart’s library I always spent 4-7 hours there studying my life away. Now I always wanted to have the comfy chairs next to the window on the 5th floor where the maps are and I wanted a table so I could put my feet up and lay all my notes out. However, this area is very popular with people so you usually have to be a vulture to get it. That is why before I went for my 4-7 hours I would stop by the 24 hour metro on Walmer/ Robert and Bloor to grab a pizza bun or croissant. Across the street from that is this beautiful old church that I admire so much. Trinity-St. Paul’s Church and Centre for Faith Justice and the Arts has these beautiful reddish roofs, dark brown colour façade, bell tower as well as an entrance way in that bell tower portion, massive circular windows and in the winter the trees that have lost all there leaves age the church beautifully.  

Now I have never gone into this church until Doors Open because I always find it awkward going into churches. Not because of religion, but because of old people. They are so cute and sweet that if they start talking to me I feel like I have to listen and when that happens I could be there for hours because I can’t say no to old people. I can only say no when they bud in line at Tim Horton’s and I’m on a 15 minute break.

The church is an example of revived Romanesque style and was done by Edmund Burke in 1888 (McMaster Hall/ The Royal Conservatory of Music, Prince Edward Viaduct, Robert Simpson Department Store/ The Bay on Queen Street). The stones of the building were from the forks of the Credit River. The bell tower which I love stands at 115 feet and the interior (were mass takes place) is the shape of a horseshoe and is noted for having rose-style windows, a 78 foot high roof, convex glass ceiling and marvelous arch ways.

Now the church looks absolutely massive from the outside however the worship area of the church is really quite small, but I think small churches make it more intimate as opposed to bigger churches where you sort of get lost in the crowd. Therefore, I liked the coziness of the church, but was very surprised by it. I honestly thought by looking at the façade this church would be massive inside. However the church is also a community like centre so it has a gym and other facilities in it as well.  Another interesting thing to note is Kathleen Kenna of the Toronto Star named it on of the “Most Romantic Venues in Toronto.”  

The inside is cute I won’t lie, but for me it is the outside that really makes me love this church. The colour, the windows, the bell tower all make me stand in front of the church in awe. I would have loved this church and it would have made my list regardless if I went in it or not.

That Is Why I Love Toronto. 

Why I Love Toronto Reason #187

Walmer Road Baptist Church

You know how much I love churches! Now I’m not a religious person per se but there is something about the amount of detail that goes into a church that makes it awe worthy and beautiful and Toronto has some very beautiful churches that many of us walk by everyday.

Now Walmer is in the Annex near the Fraternity and Sorority Houses of reason #103. Now this church is stunning, so stunning it shocks me that I have never noticed it until I was doing some investigating for reason #103.  Now the house of worship was designed by Henry Langley and his associate Edmund Burke, both whom are very popular men on this blog! Langley is noted for designing St. Mike’s Cathedral, St. Stephen-in-the-fields Anglican Church (Reason #171), The Metropolitan United Church (Reason #116), and The Royal Conservatory of Music (Reason #29) while  Burke, who also contributed to The Royal Conservatory of Music, designed the Queen Street Location of the Bay (Reason #39) as well as the Bloor Viaduct (Reason #54).

However, back to the church. It was founded by Reverend Elmore Harris and the project was funded by Massey-Harris. It wasn’t until 1889 that Langley and Burke designed and began building the structure which opened in 1892. The church was built with Gothic features and was at the time the largest Baptist church in Canada. Here are some of the reasons I love the Church personally. The tower is absolutely stunning. Now I love the brick work going up the side of the tower up until the top point where you have the arched slits and roof – I absolutely think it is beautiful. Also there are vines that go up along the side of the tower which I think makes it a tad creepy, but mostly attractive. You know the building has history when vines and nature are growing and blending into it. Inside the church is also a beautiful sight. What is noticeable inside are the light fixtures, the exposed beams in some areas and the organs.   

Today the church is not only a house of worship, but also has a day care and food bank located in what is known as the Walmer Centre. It is also home to the Brookstone Theatre Performing Arts group which presents theatre from a Christian view as well it hosts Sunday school and AA meetings.

This church is a little gem, just hiding away in the Annex away from the hustle and bustle of Bloor, Spadina and Bathurst. It is just chilling there and with nothing blocking the front entrance. However, as soon as you see that tower you are going to be intrigued and interested about what that tower belongs to.

That Is Why I Love Toronto.   

http://www.toronto.com/listing/100359

http://ve.torontopubliclibrary.ca/toronto_sanctuaries/walmer.html