80 Richmond Façade Restoration

ERA led the façade restoration of 80 Richmond Street West as part of Dream Office REIT’s commitment to conserving heritage properties within their financial district portfolio. Our work focused on two areas of intervention — full restoration of the building’s façades and renovating the building’s base and storefront.

The façade restoration scope included general cleaning, masonry, and precast stone repairs, as well as the cleaning, repair, and repainting of the original precast stone spandrel panels.

The storefront renovation was tied to a larger effort to improve the pedestrian realm of several buildings in the area. ERA developed a series of design options for both the client and Heritage Planning Staff to review. The three options were inspired by archival photos and design drawings that were never executed due to the Great Depression.

The final proposal considered design features from both the 1929 and 1937 drawings: removing the aluminum banding to showcase the original brick pattern; prominent light fixtures; glazed brick accents; large recessed glass storefronts; painted precast stone spandrel panels; and signage to highlight the building’s main entrance lobby. A small canopy with pinned letters inspired by the 1929 marquee was also included to further enhance the public realm.