Originally built in 1892 as a 40-room luxury hotel, this building is a hybrid of Victorian Romanesque architecture and Sullivanesque design.
Originally designed by noted architect John Teague, the value of this
design lies in its narrow verticality, made possible by the early use of
cast iron structural piers. Also prominent in the design is the open
facade, highlighted by the use of arches, bay windows, decorative
columns and a triangular pediment on its cornice. The unique appearance
of this early hotel sets it apart from other historic hotels
in the vicinity.
The commercial area on the ground level offers over 1,400 sq ft of
space, while the remaining 4 stories comprise 22 residential units
with a total area of nearly 6,000 sq ft.
This multi-phase renovation, redevelopment and seismic upgrade of Hillside Mall rejuvenated and expanded the existing facility.
The reinvention of the Hillside Mall began in October 2009 with Phase 1 – a 55,000 sq ft addition. This created space for 30 new tenants and provided a new and upgraded home for existing tenants.
Phase 2 started in May 2011 with a complete renovation and redevelopment of the original 120,000 sq ft shopping centre, which included the addition of skylights over the walkways to make use of natural light.
In October 2012, Phase 3 began and saw the addition of a new 120,000 sq ft Target store to replace the smaller single-storey Zellers space. The completed mall now has over 60 retailers, offers a variety of shops and services and a bright, spacious food court.
The new 20,000 sq ft fire station serves as the Fire Department’s headquarters and accommodates both volunteer and career personnel, in addition to operating as the district’s Emergency Operations Center (EOC).
The station houses 8 trucks (4 tandem drive-through bays) with a deliberate separation between firefighting facilities and the administration areas to allow for decontamination.
Amenities include separate locker and washroom facilities for male and female firefighters, as well as gender neutral dormitories and training rooms.
A conference room was designed to work in conjunction with the EOC as a media or family room.
Solar panels were placed on the roof to help power the facility, and a large-volume rain catch system was incorporated to use in the training and testing of the pumper truck. This project is targeting Silver Certification for LEED.
1019 Blanshard Street was constructed in the early 1900’s as a storefront retail building that included alleyway access for wagon deliveries. Over the following century, numerous renovations divided the space into smaller units, which covered over the original character features.
The goal for this renovation was to recreate and reinterpret the original character features and use the building’s newly created Be Love and La Taquisa restaurants to rejuvenate the commercial corner.
Completed in fall 2013, the renovation completely renewed the original 3,000 sq ft building fabric, revitalized the brick exterior, completed seismic upgrading and reinterpreted the storefront using contemporary materials and techniques. Steel frames replaced a heavy timber interior structure, which were re-milled by Be Love for its restaurant bar. The cornice was templated from neighbouring 801 Fort Street to accurately recapture the design elements from the era of its origin.
