I’m a dedicated Urban Planner, artist, and world traveler. I try to make the world a better place, one idea or plan at a time. https://nkoschany.myportfolio.com

Jul 11, 2016

Façadism along Yonge Street

Some of the beautiful (if rundown) Edwardian buildings along Yonge.

I was talking with my friend Bryn about something the other day, and to both of our astonishment, the topic in question was published on Now-Toronto as an op-ed. I am both pleased (and embarrassed) to say that the article does a far better job of explaining the contended issues than I do. Rather than rehash the points of the article however, I want to add my own professional views to the discussion.

The issue at hand is what the authors call “urban taxidermy”. If taxidermy is “the art of preparing, stuffing and mounting skins of animals for lifelike effect” then urban taxidermy may be described as the stuffing of historic buildings to simulate social, cultural or economic effects that once existed. This might better be described as façadism.

Along Yonge Street in Toronto, (the main corridor where I live), we are increasingly seeing condos being built (or proposed) on sites with unique heritage value. Often the sites of beautiful (if run-down) Edwardian buildings, the common theme in these developments is to restore the front of the building, (or sometimes the outer walls as seen above) but knock down the innards, and build a condo behind. In the worst case scenarios, the buildings merely become a shell for an elaborate lobby to an apartment, hence altering (I would argue for the worse) the very nature that made these spaces interact so well with the street.

Now mind you some of these proposals can be nice:

Reeeeally nice… (This is a proposal by Quadrangle Architects for a building at the South East Corner of Yonge and Gerard). Notice the juxtaposition, rather than imitation, between new and old. *Source: Quadrangle.*

This said, I share the same concerns as the author of the Now Toronto article, specifically the decrease in the number of retail units.

This design at 5 St. Joseph Street did a wonderful job on facade retention, but where their used to be five shops, there are now two. I’ve highlighted the problem with one of these shops in the image above. This isn’t good for the streetscape. If we go to the work of Jane Jacobs, Allan Jacob, or Jan Gehl, all of their work highlights the importance of narrow shops, which provide ‘soft edges’ and the ability for communication and transition between the public and private realms. The more transition zones between the inside and outside, the more fluid pedestrian movement becomes, and the more activities occur on the street.

These “transitions” between the public and private realm are often where small interactions take place, maybe between people who know each other only by face, or those who don’t know each other at all, but who are being polite. Whatever the relationship between the people, this type of low intensity contact builds a sense of community trust, and ultimately adds a ‘human’ characteristic to a sidewalk.

To remove the number of transition zones (in this case, the number of shops or at least entrances to a shop), is to remove opportunities for interaction. The Now Toronto article also bemoans the loss of residential entrances on the street, and how condos tend to relocate the residential entrances (other transition zones) to side streets. If we look at Montreal, we can see the ideal, where three units in the same building open onto the same street, rather than some interior lobby. This creates transparency. This fosters a sense of care for what is happening in the community.

Montreal’s duplexes and triplexes have three separate entrances from the same building onto the same road!

To be fair, I disagree that this last point is all bad (think of this from a human perspective — I would rather enter my home from a quiet side street than from a busy crowded sidewalk; not all sidewalks are like the one in Montreal, where entrances are not blocked by crowds). Beyond this, the units above the shops will still be facing the street, thereby still facilitating that sense of community care. Will there be as much interaction with the street from these buildings? No. Will the street life created by these micro-interactions disappear altogether though? No.

My annoyance goes beyond a social loss however. Where small stores encourage small retail, larger stores encourage more corporate retail (like, with the Aroma Coffee Shop or RBC shown in one of my earlier photos). The reason for this is simple — larger store sizes cost more, and those stores which can pay more are either chains, or elaborate boutique stores. Either way, we witness the death of small “everyday” shops like barber shops, small ethnic food places, or hardware stores. I like a new coffee shops and trendy stores as much as the next urban millennial, but past a certain point I want a place to buy light bulbs where they aren’t marketed as boutique items:

Yes this is a thing. (located in the Junction on Dundas Street West though, not along Yonge).

Now, I’m not saying there’s not a place for corporate or boutique retail, but I don’t think we should be creating these large-scale shops at the expense of smaller ones which allow individual (and hopefully cheaper)businesses to thrive. If one of those two uses wants to move into a shop along a street, so be it, but they should be working within the existing 10m the original stores have laid out for them (like the light bulb place above).

The good news in all of this is that in January, Toronto released its Heritage Conservation District Plan (HCD) for Yonge Street between Bloor and College. Speaking in broad strokes, the report lays out which properties along Yonge Street are contributory heritage, buildings, those which are not, and policies and guidelines for each of category. Among the most relevant of these policies for heritage buildings, (to the topic at hand), are those which state:

5.9.1 — Conserve storefronts in the design of additions and alterations to contributing properties. Do not alter the width of storefronts as viewed from the street, including by removing building features such as pilasters, columns, or structural walls.

5.9.3 — At-grade access to retail spaces and upper floors is an important aspect of the functional design of contributing commercial properties in the Historic Yonge Street Character Area. Retention of this at-grade access from Yonge Street is strongly encouraged.

Of course, the policies go beyond building widths and access from the street to talk about awnings, facade retention and restoration, etc. For those interested in the full report, they can click here. My point in all of this however, is the Yonge Street HCD has lessons that all mainstreets can learn from, not just heritage buildings. It’s time we stop butchering the small shops.