Beaver Hall provides a new type of live/work accommodation for Toronto artists, who were otherwise finding it increasingly difficult to find suitable spaces in the downtown area, at affordable rents. A group of artists formed a Housing Cooperative and bought the site, at a central location just north of Queen Street West, south of the Art Gallery of Ontario and the Ontario College of Art and Design.

All units have high ceilings and large windows. The bathrooms and kitchens were located compactly near the rear of each unit, permitting an open plan at the front. A flexible layout was assured as the building was designed so that there was no need for loadbearing partitions carrying plumbing pipes and electric conduits. Tough interior surfaces – polished concrete floors and exposed concrete block walls met the artists’ need for durable finishes.

The typical floor plan has four units around a compact central core, 24 total units. Each unit has an outside corner with wrap-around window and a balcony. There is an art bookstore and an exhibition gallery/workshop on the ground floor. Parking is off site.

Named after a legendary artist’s co-op in Montreal, Beaver Hall showed that it was possible to build a medium-density, multi-unit residence on what had previously been considered an “unbuildable” urban lot, and it serves as an economical prototype for artists, demonstrating the concept of “live/work” zoning. Forward-looking – it anticipated the trend in loft-apartments in the city.

David Oleson