The social history of Kensington Lofts is as interesting as the architecture. The site was home to the Provincial Institute of Trades, and then George Brown College until the early 1990s. When the College announced its abandonment of the site, Kensington Market residents, business people, and local politicians, concerned about the future redevelopment of the site, formed a group and developed a project to transform the campus into mixed-income social housing, with a strong emphasis on artists lofts. The community plan dissolved with the failure of the City of Toronto to meet a deadline to get the site at a bargain price in July 1995, and the site was put on the open market.

Hoping to keep some aspects of the original concept alive, the community approached a number of “Kensington friendly” developers and eventually C and A Developments took on the project. C and A, a partnership of Howard Cohen, former head of the Design Exchange, and architect Lloyd Alter, were just completing 20 Niagara Street and liked the community’s vision. Without social-housing programs, the project became a market condominium, with retail on Baldwin Street. The developers donated some community space. Over the period of the construction, C and A evolved into Context Developments.

The project is one of the pioneer loft conversions in Toronto. Although aimed at mid market, a high standard of architectural design was achieved. Not only were the development team architecturally trained, the sales team were also architects. The project architects were Robert Barnett Architect in joint venture with Paul Oberst. Robert Barnett Architect had been the consulting architect to George Brown College for many years and so was familiar with the existing buildings. Barnett had also developed an earlier scheme for the Ontario Realty Corporation, which showed how the existing buildings could be adapted for housing. Paul Oberst, a Kensington Market resident, had been involved in developing the early schemes for the site with other community members. Kohn Shnier Architects were commissioned to work on the building elevations. Some of the suite layouts were done by Kohn and Shnier, in collaboration with interior designer Cheryl Krismer and the project architects.

The project has two wings, one on Baldwin Street and one on Nassau. One bay of the Baldwin Street building was demolished to widen the courtyard from 20 to 40 feet. The two wings are linked by a new structure on the east edge of the block.

Architect Alex Spiegel, a partner in Context Developments, wanted the project to be as “green” as possible. The first step was re-using the existing buildings. In addition, a central system supplies heated and chilled water to individual heat pumps in the units. Among the material selections were bamboo, recycled concrete, and glass countertops. The original doors, fitments, and furniture were sold or given away to community agencies. There is a roof garden on the connecting link with Nassau Street, which is visible from the stairwell of the Nassau Street building.

The high ceilings in the original buildings created dramatic spaces, and the old buildings also allowed for great variety in size and layout of individual suites. The wide school corridors were left as generous hallways. On the second and third floor of the Nassau Street building remain two dramatic coved ceilings from the 1924 school. In many of the halls the services are left exposed, painted dark grey, with lighting suspended below them.

The project sold out very quickly. It took only two years to complete the construction and move in all of the new owners.

Catherine Nasmith