ArtsAutosBooksBusinessEducationEntertainmentFamilyFashionFoodGamesGenderHealthHolidaysHomeHubPagesPersonal FinancePetsPoliticsReligionSportsTechnologyTravel

Visiting Toronto, Ontario and its Birkbeck Building: Classicism and Edwardian Baroque in Downtown splendour

Updated on September 17, 2012
Provincial flag of Ontario
Provincial flag of Ontario | Source
Birkbeck Building, Toronto, Ontario
Birkbeck Building, Toronto, Ontario | Source
Historical plaque, Birkbeck Building, Toronto
Historical plaque, Birkbeck Building, Toronto | Source
Map location of Toronto, Ontario
Map location of Toronto, Ontario | Source

Gracious structure, redolent of another era

For more than a century, close to Yonge Street, the frontage of this gracious, historic building has been a presence in Toronto's Adelaide Street, East. The basic, Classical design of the frontage is complemented by known as Edwardian Baroque — sometimes referred to as American Beaux Arts, with its careful use of symmetry.

Among the materials used in the building were natural and cast stone and terracotta tiling. Thus, the main frontage is sometimes spoken of as incorporating what is known as 'Art Stone': the 'Art' not referring to its artistic value (although this would be an accurate description, also) but to 'Artificial', indicating that this material was prepared in a more cost-effective manner. However, it still proved less expensive to use natural sandstone for the sculpted elements of the stonework.

The interior of the building includes a lobby executed in marble, and an oval-shaped boardroom with oak panelling. Its high windows let in daylight to an ample degree. The property is popular as a hired out venue for events.

This fine structure dates from 1908, when the Canadian Birkbeck Investment and Savings Company sponsored these Downtown offices. Its architect was George W. Gouinlock. The building featured a fireproof steel structure, in its day, a fairly innovative development. Winnipeg-educated architect Gouinlock, who practised in Toronto for about thirty years, had already designed a number of local bank buildings and he was also responsible for a number of the structures at Toronto's Exhibition Place (1).

A restoration was carried out by the Ontario Heritage Foundation in 1987. A further restoration was accomplished from 2005 to 2007. The building is now the headquarters of the Ontario Heritage Trust. Other occupants in the past have included the Standard Bank. The original purpose of the Birkbeck Investment and Savings Company had in any case been to have offices surplus to its own requirements so that these could be hired out to various, mainly commercial, tenants.

A number of plaques have been affixed to the frontage of the building: a bilingual historical plaque from the Historical Sites and Monuments Board of Canada (the Building is a National Historic Site of Canada); a plaque from the Toronto Historical Board indicating designation under the Ontario Heritage Act; and a plaque from the Ontario Heritage Foundation.

The preservation of this historic building in Downtown Toronto came at a time when more and more older buildings were being demolished to make way for new commercial properties, particularly those in the Financial District. The Birkbeck Building thus seems redolent of a pre-World War One era when grace and a measure of ornateness were more highly regarded in commercial buildings than subsequent conceptions of functionalism.

Note

(1) These structures at Exhibition Place by Gouinlock include the Horticulture Building and the Press Building, which is also in Beaux Arts style.

Also worth seeing

Toronto 's visitor attractions are far to numerous to summerize adequately, but in near vicinity around the Birkbeck Building these include Old City Hall , Osgoode Hall , Campbell House , the United Metropolitan Cathedral and St James's and St Michael's Cathedrals .

Willowdale (distance: approx. 13 kilometres); the mid-19th century Gibson House is now a museum.

...

How to get there: Air Canada, flies to Toronto Pearson Airport, with wide North American and other connections, from where car rental is available. However, visitors to Downtown Toronto will find many sights to be easily walkable. Some facilities may be withdrawn without notice. For up to date information, please check with the airline or your travel agent. For any special border crossing arrangements which may apply to citizens of certain nationalities, please refer to appropriate consular sources.

MJFenn is an independent travel writer based in Ontario, Canada.

working

This website uses cookies

As a user in the EEA, your approval is needed on a few things. To provide a better website experience, hubpages.com uses cookies (and other similar technologies) and may collect, process, and share personal data. Please choose which areas of our service you consent to our doing so.

For more information on managing or withdrawing consents and how we handle data, visit our Privacy Policy at: https://corp.maven.io/privacy-policy

Show Details
Necessary
HubPages Device IDThis is used to identify particular browsers or devices when the access the service, and is used for security reasons.
LoginThis is necessary to sign in to the HubPages Service.
Google RecaptchaThis is used to prevent bots and spam. (Privacy Policy)
AkismetThis is used to detect comment spam. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide data on traffic to our website, all personally identifyable data is anonymized. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Traffic PixelThis is used to collect data on traffic to articles and other pages on our site. Unless you are signed in to a HubPages account, all personally identifiable information is anonymized.
Amazon Web ServicesThis is a cloud services platform that we used to host our service. (Privacy Policy)
CloudflareThis is a cloud CDN service that we use to efficiently deliver files required for our service to operate such as javascript, cascading style sheets, images, and videos. (Privacy Policy)
Google Hosted LibrariesJavascript software libraries such as jQuery are loaded at endpoints on the googleapis.com or gstatic.com domains, for performance and efficiency reasons. (Privacy Policy)
Features
Google Custom SearchThis is feature allows you to search the site. (Privacy Policy)
Google MapsSome articles have Google Maps embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
Google ChartsThis is used to display charts and graphs on articles and the author center. (Privacy Policy)
Google AdSense Host APIThis service allows you to sign up for or associate a Google AdSense account with HubPages, so that you can earn money from ads on your articles. No data is shared unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Google YouTubeSome articles have YouTube videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
VimeoSome articles have Vimeo videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
PaypalThis is used for a registered author who enrolls in the HubPages Earnings program and requests to be paid via PayPal. No data is shared with Paypal unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook LoginYou can use this to streamline signing up for, or signing in to your Hubpages account. No data is shared with Facebook unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
MavenThis supports the Maven widget and search functionality. (Privacy Policy)
Marketing
Google AdSenseThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Google DoubleClickGoogle provides ad serving technology and runs an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Index ExchangeThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
SovrnThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook AdsThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Unified Ad MarketplaceThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
AppNexusThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
OpenxThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Rubicon ProjectThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
TripleLiftThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Say MediaWe partner with Say Media to deliver ad campaigns on our sites. (Privacy Policy)
Remarketing PixelsWe may use remarketing pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to advertise the HubPages Service to people that have visited our sites.
Conversion Tracking PixelsWe may use conversion tracking pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to identify when an advertisement has successfully resulted in the desired action, such as signing up for the HubPages Service or publishing an article on the HubPages Service.
Statistics
Author Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide traffic data and reports to the authors of articles on the HubPages Service. (Privacy Policy)
ComscoreComScore is a media measurement and analytics company providing marketing data and analytics to enterprises, media and advertising agencies, and publishers. Non-consent will result in ComScore only processing obfuscated personal data. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Tracking PixelSome articles display amazon products as part of the Amazon Affiliate program, this pixel provides traffic statistics for those products (Privacy Policy)
ClickscoThis is a data management platform studying reader behavior (Privacy Policy)