Gooderham Flatiron Building, Toronto

by Rick Shea

Title

Gooderham Flatiron Building, Toronto

Artist

Rick Shea

Medium

Photograph - Photography

Description

A foggy February morning brought me out to shoot Toronto's "Flatiron" building. A common approach to shooting this popular subject contrasts its Victorian era architecture with the modern skyscrapers behind it in the financial district. A dense fog eliminated that option, leaving the Flatiron building to stand mostly alone, perhaps looking much like it might have back in its youth.

One of the most photographed buildings in Toronto, the Gooderham "Flatiron" Building dates back to 1891-92. It was designed by Toronto architect David Roberts Jr. who was also responsible for a number of other Gooderham commissions, notably George Gooderham's houses at St. George and Bloor Streets (1889) and Jarvis Street (1891). The "flatiron" building's triangular shape results from the confluence of Wellington Street, which follows the traditional Town of York grid, with Front Street, the irregular diagonal line derived from the 19th-century waterfront. The four-and-a-half-storey red brick building is set on a high foundation that rises a half-storey above ground. A string course divides the second and third floors, with a decorative frieze and cornice above the fourth floor. A steeply pitched copper clad roof is pierced by a number of decorative dormers. A prominent tower with ogee arch windows distinguishes the roof line at the apex of the building. A textured fa�ade results from a dominant pattern of fenestration on all floors. There are hood mouldings over the fourth floor windows. The brick work on the Gooderham Building is exceptional both in terms of the quality of the red bricks and the miniscule thickness of the modern joints.

In 1975, the City of Toronto designated the structure under the Ontario Heritage Act and, in 1977, the Ontario Heritage Trust secured a heritage easement on the building

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July 14th, 2017

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