ERA Architects is thrilled to have worked with Zeidler Architecture on the recently completed reconstruction and restoration of 2 Queen Street West.
2 Queen was designed by Samuel Curry and Francis Baker for P. Jamieson Clothier Outfitter department store in 1895. In 1984 the building had its first round of heritage conservation work, due to the state of deterioration, the façade was partially restored, preserving the remainder of the building with postmodern overcladding by Alter Associates.
Beginning work at 2 Queen in 2018, ERA’s vision was to restore the building to its Late Victorian form while enhancing it for twenty-first-century uses. This involved taking it back to its mass masonry and meticulously rebuilding the nineteenth-century façade based on a 1897 archival photo using a range of skilled trades. A three-storey glass addition was added to the restored building that mimics the heritage footprint of the building using contemporary materials and provides state-of-the-art interior amenities.
Stay tuned for information about 2 Queen’s incoming tenants and programming.
Archive photograph courtesy Toronto Public Library; present day photograph by Vik Pahwa; detail photographs by Mina Markovic
