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DESIGN ARCHITECTURE
July 26, 2024 by Julian Mirabelli 5.5K
A Peek Inside The Canada Malting Silos & Bathurst Quay Revitalization

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The transformation of Toronto's waterfront from an industrial hub to a livable
community has taken decades of planning and construction. Most traces of the
heavy industries that once lined the lakefront have long been erased, with only
a few monuments left that remind us of Toronto's origins as a port city. Of the
remaining structures, two monolithic silos bookending the downtown waterfront
have yet to find a purpose in this new context, with the Victory Soya Mills
Silos in the east and the Canada Malting Silos in the west still standing
strong. These landmarks have been vacant and neglected for decades as the city
has grown around them, but fortunately there is significant political will to
reuse and revitalize both, and the rebirth of one of them is already underway.

View of the Canada Malting Silos and Bathurst Quay Common, image by Julian
Mirabelli.

The Canada Malting Silos stand on Bathurst Quay at the foot of Bathurst Street,
where many travellers may recognize the hulking concrete mass on their way to
and from Billy Bishop Airport. The property is also home to the Corleck
Building, a unique Art Deco structure completed in the 1940s, which was
originally the administrative offices of the Canada Malting Company. These two
structures are what is left of the Canada Malting Company's operations, who
abandoned the site in the 1980s. The City has taken over the property since
then, with the Corleck most recently serving as offices for PortsToronto, but
the silos were left to decay and the remainder of the property left largely
covered in asphalt.

View of the Corleck Building and Canada Malting Silos, image by Julian
Mirabelli.

The plan to revitalize the property first started taking shape back in 2017 with
the Bathurst Quay Revitalization Plan, an initiative from the City and
Waterfront Toronto to transform this prime plot of land from a derelict
brownfield site to a community-oriented cultural destination. The revitalization
of the Bathurst Quay involves the restoration and reuse of the Canada Malting
Silos; the rehabilitation of the Corleck Building to become the new home of the
Canada Ireland Foundation, which includes a new 200-person event space and
rooftop patio; and the creation of a new public park, which the City has named
Bathurst Quay Common.

Rendering of the Bathurst Quay Revitalization, image courtesy of the City of
Toronto.

Early works began in 2019 when the dock wall was rebuilt and expanded to extend
the waterfront promenade, and in 2021 a design team was assembled consisting of
Kearns Mancini Architects, ERA Architects as heritage specialists, and landscape
architects PFS Studio. Construction began in earnest in 2022 with the
restoration and rehabilitation of the silos and the Corleck Building, and a
groundbreaking for the park took place in 2023. The park is slated to open in
September 2024, with the Corleck Building scheduled for completion in September
2025.

UrbanToronto had the pleasure of joining a tour of the site organized by the
Toronto Society of Architects and hosted by project leaders from the City,
Canada Ireland Foundation, and Kearns Mancini Architects.

View inside the Canada Malting Silos, image by Julian Mirabelli.

Addressing the elephant on the site, the silos posed a challenge for the team
given their size and state of disrepair. There are two silo structures on the
property: the south cylindrical silos, built in 1928, and the north rectangular
silos, built in 1944. Between them were once equipment and bridges connecting
the two, but these have been removed to create a pedestrian pathway connecting
the waterfront promenade to the new park, with some of the dismantled parts
salvaged for possible future reuse.

The gap between the north and south silos, image by Julian Mirabelli.

The future use of the silos remains somewhat of an unknown. The City has
confirmed that OCAD University will be occupying the ground floor of the north
silos, but the top floor and rooftop does not yet have a tenant. The south silos
are a bit more difficult to repurpose. According to the City, Canada Malting
abandoned the site so quickly in the 1980s that they left a good amount of
barley sitting in the south silos. Over the decades, as the silos deteriorated,
water infiltrated and nature took its course, leaving them filled with what the
City has described as "hundreds of tonnes of black sludge" that they aren't
quite sure what to do with. The decision was made to restore the exterior of the
south silos and leave the interiors untouched, black sludge included, until a
use was found for them.

View inside the Canada Malting Silos, image by Julian Mirabelli.

The designers took a 'light touch' approach for the restoration of the silos and
decided to maintain what is currently there, only performing the repairs that
were necessary to stabilize and restore them into a state where they can once
again be occupied. This involved hundreds of concrete patches across the
facades, and the removal of damaged and rusting equipment both inside and
outside the silos. There were some quirky discoveries along the way, including a
perfectly-shaped pinhole crack through the concrete that created a camera
obscura, which projected a live image of the adjacent waterfront onto the inside
surface of the silo.

Originally, the design team intended to leave the concrete patches visible on
the exterior as a way to show the difference between old and new, but there were
so many patches that it created a rather unpleasant aesthetic, so the decision
was made to paint the concrete to create a uniform surface. The colour was
chosen to be as historically accurate to the original concrete as possible.

View of the Canada Malting Silos, image by Julian Mirabelli.

Inside the south silos, the interior remains largely untouched, graffiti
included. A new wooden ramp and stair was installed for the project, which is
intended to remain as permanent access to the ground floor. Old junk and
equipment was cleared out, but some of it that is still intact has been left in
the space. OCAD requested that it be left as untouched as possible; their plans
for the space have not yet been revealed, but it holds incredible potential.

Abandoned equipment inside the Canada Malting Silos, image by Julian Mirabelli.

New ramp inside the Canada Malting Silos, image by Julian Mirabelli.

One might expect the interior of the north silo to be a large open space, but
this is not the case. The ground level is a series of passages with quite a low
ceiling, while above are a series of massive cylinders that extend nearly 20
storeys unimpeded from top to bottom. Staring up into the hollow cylinders, the
light disappears into a dark void, and the acoustic qualities are quite unique.
The silos hold endless potential for lighting, acoustics, and art installations.

Looking up into one of the silos, image by Julian Mirabelli.

The rehabilitation of the Corleck Building is more of an involved process than
the silos. The building will be home to new office spaces for the Canada Ireland
Foundation, a rooftop terrace, and a new 200-person event space, complete with a
full kitchen and new washroom facilities.

View of the main floor inside the Corleck Building, image by Julian Mirabelli.

The western half of the building was mostly preserved and will house the
administrative functions, but the eastern half was gutted and hollowed out to
create a new double-height space for the event venue and rooftop. This also
allowed the design team to install a new elevator.

View of the event space inside the Corleck Building, image by Julian Mirabelli.

The event space inside the Corleck Building, image by Julian Mirabelli.

The entire facade is preserved and restored, with the existing brick repaired
and cleaned and new windows installed. Two new exit stairs flank the building on
the east and west facades, whose curving canopies and steel finish add a
contemporary flair to the historic structure. The Art Deco details, particularly
on the main north facade and in the interior stairwell, are being preserved and
restored. A new barrier-free entrance has also been provided adjacent to the
original main entrance.

View of the Corleck Building, image by Julian Mirabelli.

View of the Corleck Building and new east exit stair, image by Julian Mirabelli.

The new public park around the Corleck and silos is also taking shape. At the
south end, a series of concrete slabs, ledges, and planters are accented by
wooden benches and platforms to create a 'living room' along the water.
Envisioned as a space of rest and respite, it will serve as a place for
passersby to sit and watch boats and planes across the water, and can also be
accessed directly from the event space in the Corleck.

View of the Corleck Building and Bathurst Quay Common under construction, image
by Forum contributor rdaner.

View of the site under construction, image by Forum contributor rdaner.

The remainder of the site will be a mix of hardscape and landscape with more
flexible open spaces, which can be used for a variety of gatherings or
installations.

Rendering of Bathurst Quay Common, image courtesy of the City of Toronto.

To the east of the Bathurst Quay, there are also plans for a new public plaza
across the Portland Slip that would continue and expand the public spaces along
the waterfront. Included as part of this project is the installation of
permanent multimedia equipment for projections onto the east face of the Canada
Malting Silos. The City has engaged Montreal-based company Moment Factory to
study the feasibility and potential of this proposal.

Rendering of the future public realm expansion to the east, image courtesy of
the City of Toronto.

After years of planning and construction, the Bathurst Quay Revitalization is
taking major strides toward completion, breathing new life into the
long-derelict waterfront property. We will keep you updated as construction
continues, but in the meantime you can tell us what you think by checking out
the associated Forum thread, or by leaving a comment in the space provided
below. As well, you can check out the many walking tours and building tours that
the Toronto Society of Architects offers, which are all accessible to the
public, by checking out their website here.

UrbanToronto will continue to follow progress on this development, but in the
meantime, you can learn more about it from our Database file, linked below. If
you'd like, you can join in on the conversation in the associated Project Forum
thread or leave a comment in the space provided on this page.

* * *

UrbanToronto has a research service, UrbanToronto Pro, that provides
comprehensive data on construction projects in the Greater Toronto Area—from
proposal through to completion. We also offer Instant Reports, downloadable
snapshots based on location, and a daily subscription newsletter, New
Development Insider, that tracks projects from initial application.

Related Companies: Live Patrol Inc., Urban Strategies Inc.

Bathurst Quay Revitalization

Developer: City of Toronto, Waterfront Toronto

Architect: Kearns Mancini Architects

Address: 5 Eireann Quay, Toronto
Category: Institutional (Community Centre), Public Space / Park
Status: ConstructionCrane(s): 0Height: ? ft / ? mStoreys: ? storeys

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