Dan416
Senior Member
I love over jealous security guards. I have been chased out of a few locations aswell just trying to snap a few pictures.
Over jealous? You mean overzealous?
I love over jealous security guards. I have been chased out of a few locations aswell just trying to snap a few pictures.
Hey history buffs, a question for y'all from this photo I took today of BA (East from U-Avenue)--What do the black eagles on the old building represent?
I was kicked out of the Gherkin in London within seconds of walking through the doors. I wasn't trying to take pictures, just wanted to look around and that there might be an observation deck or restaurant at the top, but there wasn't. The security was nice enough to tell me there was a restaurant outside and gave me a postcard with facts of the building on the back.
That's the Concourse building. It was built in 1928, a time when Art Deco was in style, so it's basically just part of the architecture, I don't think it represents anything specific (at least not that I know of). The builder also commissioned J.E.H. MacDonald, one of the Group of Seven Painters, to do artistic mosaics on the building which you can see in the entranceway on Adelaide. I'm not sure if he did those eagles also, or just the coloured mosaics on the south side. The art was just done to make the building more glamorous and attractive to attract tenants, as it was built speculatively. Unfortunately the stock market crash and the Great Depression came shortly after it was completed.
That's all I know about it. Back when I was living in TO, in about 2000, a developer was talking about tearing it down and just retaining part of the facade, thankfully that didn't happen. It's a really amazing building, especially the south and east facades and the entranceway with the colourful mosaics. Apparently the interior lobby is also really nice.
The latest I've heard is that there was a plan to convert it into condos, I'm not sure what's happening with that.
There is a restaurant at the top and it looks absolutely spectacular. Look for videos on YouTube for views of the restaurant and views from the restaurant.