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Photograph of the side of a stone building. There are rows of square windows.

85 Richmond Street West

85 Richmond Street West

85 Richmond St W, 2021 Heritage Toronto Awards Built Heritage Nominee. Image: +VG Architects.

85 Richmond St W, 2021 Heritage Toronto Awards Built Heritage Nominee. Image: +VG Architects.

Photograph of the corner of a building and the front of a building, both are light brown stone. The front facing building has several pillars and an arched entrance way. The corner building 9 storeys tall with many small square windows. The street is empty. The sky behind the buildings is clear and the sun is shining.
Corner of 85 Richmond St W, 2021 Heritage Toronto Awards Built Heritage Nominee. Image: +VG Architects

Corner of 85 Richmond St W, 2021 Heritage Toronto Awards Built Heritage Nominee. Image: +VG Architects

Heritage Rehabilitation

Built in 1923, the Federal Building at 85 Richmond St. W. is one of Toronto’s few remaining first-generation “skyscrapers.” Conservation work on 85 Richmond Street West included investigations into the heritage elements to determine existing conditions and appropriate conservation strategies for masonry and metals. The project rehabilitated the building, allowing for its continued use as an office. 

The scope of the project included:

—Rehabilitation of the 303-foot-long Beaux Arts pressed-metal cornice at the roof level (original removed in the early 1950s)

—Rehabilitation of original fenestration and spandrel patterning to accentuate the historical proportional division of the façade

—Masonry and metals conservation of the exterior building envelope and heritage lobby

—Sensitive insertion of a clearly distinguishable, subordinate and visually compatible steel and glass addition within the original lightwell of the Chicago School U-shaped plan

Project Date of Completion: July 12, 2020

Project Partners

Property Owner: Oxford Properties Group

Heritage Architect: +VG Architects

Architect: WZMH Architects

Construction Manager: PCL Constructors Canada Inc.

Masonry, Wood Windows Conservation: Clifford Restoration Ltd.

Sheet Metal (Cornice): Heather & Little Ltd.

Bronze Restoration: Age of Bronze

Windows: Stadia Industries and PermaTint Ltd.

Stone: Avenue Marble Restoration, Traditional Cut Stone Ltd., Lacroix Granite, Adair Limestone (Arriscraft)