As the scaffold has been coming down over the summer, Torontonians might have noticed a new-old building at the corner of Yonge and Temperance: the last remaining of a row of historic buildings once known as the Elgin Block.
As part of the redevelopment of the Bay-Adelaide site (with KPMB, Adamson Associates, and Brookfield Properties) ERA moved two heritage façades of this building from the corner of Yonge and Adelaide and relocated them one block north.
In its new context, this building collaborates with the Dineen Building across the street to intensify heritage fabric at the entrance to Temperance.
As part of the refurbishment of the façades, we’ve used archival photographs and architectural drawings to reconstruct the building’s impressive large cornices. The new cornices are made from folded lead-coated copper over a wood and steel armature.
Progress continues through the winter on this project, when we expect to see the installation of the “ghost wall,” which consists of three new bays of façade constructed from cast glass-fibre reinforced concrete (GFRC). Read more about the ghost wall in a previous post.
