First Narayever Synagogue

First Narayever Congregation is downtown Toronto’s largest and longest-standing shul, supporting the City’s Jewish community for over 100 years. The Congregation holds strong egalitarian values supported by an ethos of openness, social justice, equality, and universal accessibility.

The First Narayever building was originally a modest 1890s Foresters Hall converted to support religious practice by the first Mennonite congregation in Toronto. After having worshipped out of a house at the intersection of Huron Street and Dundas Street West for 20 years, the Narayever Congregation purchased the building at 187 Brunswick Street from Bethel Church in 1943.

The Congregation’s objective was to maintain a place of worship within walking distance for the many Annex residents in the community — an important consideration for the Sabbath. They have worshipped there ever since, making incremental changes to the building’s interior to improve its fitness for purpose.

In 2016, ERA joined LGA Architects to deliver transformational change to the First Narayever Synagogue. The brief required a re-imagination of the existing building to support universal accessibility, in line with the Congregations’s egalitarian values, and a modest expansion to support their evolving program requirements. Without significant alteration, the building — which was and continues to be beloved by the First Narayever community — would no longer be able to support the Congregation.

Recognizing the sensitive neighbourhood context and the critical nature of the work, ERA developed a commemorative design strategy for the building that retained significant original fabric while improving its accessibility and utility for the Congregation. Through close collaboration with City of Toronto Staff and our project partners, ERA resolved multiple technical and procedural issues to expedite a complex approval process for the Congregation and ensure minimal disruption to services.

The final design by LGA Architects has replaced the building’s front façade with a universally accessible vestibule which, with its sensitive contemporary design, manages to be an excellent neighbour within its historic residential context. By welcoming all people equally and integrating sustainable design in new additions to the original structure, the building upholds core principles of Judaism related to the sanctity of the human soul and natural environment. The condition of the retained building fabric has been remediated, ensuring that the building can support the Congregation for another 100 years.