Consumers’ Gas Showroom

2532 Yonge Street

Black and white photo of a two-storey building on a street corner. On the road beside the building is a 1930s car.

Consumers’ Gas Company Showroom, Yonge Street, 1931. Image: Frederick Micklethwaite, Toronto Public Library

Sepia toned photo of the interior of a building. There are many chairs lined up in rows facing a small stage with a demonstration kitchen on it.

Interior of the Consumers Gas Company’s North Toronto Showroom, Yonge St., February 1931. Image: Construction Magazine, no. xxvi

Image a two-storey building on a street. Parked in front of the entrance is a blue bus.

Consumers’ Gas Showroom, Yonge St., Toronto, 2017. Image by Herman Custodio

Closeup image of the floral filigree detailing on the exterior of a building.

Panel detail, Consumers’ Gas Showroom, Yonge St., Toronto, 2017. Image by Herman Custodio

2532 Yonge Street

Developer: Edgembe Realty
Architects: ERA Architects
Craftspeople: Clifford Restoration

Charles Dolphin, the architect of Toronto’s Postal Delivery building (now known as Scotiabank Arena), also designed this Art Deco-influenced building for the Consumers’ Gas Company. Beginning in 1931, the 10,000 square foot building was the company’s North Toronto showroom and featured a demonstration kitchen on the upper level, which attracted prospective buyers.

The Art Deco façade is clad in Tyndall stone from Manitoba, while the front entrance is framed with steel and cast iron. The use of aluminum for decorative relief panels was innovative for its time.

The transformation of the two-storey building for a single full building tenant involved the restoration of exterior elements as well as interior repairs to the decorative plasterwork. Clad marble pilasters were restored and flashings introduced to better protect the facade. Both the entranceway with its terrazzo floor and the stunning original Telechron clock were restored to their original beauty. Repairs were also were made to the structure’s aluminum and steel window frames, brick, and stone masonry, returning the exterior look of the building to its Art Deco elegance.

The work received an honourable mention at the 2016 Heritage Toronto Awards.