We are proud to announce that 85 Richmond has been nominated in the Built Heritage category for the 2021
Heritage Toronto Awards. Winners will be announced at the virtual awards ceremony on Monday, October 18.
Oxford Properties Group’s restoration, expansion, and modernization of the full-block Richmond-Adelaide Centre in the
Toronto Financial District BIA consists of five buildings, three of which are situated around a south-facing courtyard. The other two buildings (on the north side) are 111 Richmond Street, originally designed by Peter Dickinson, and the 11-storey, century-old Federal Building at 85 Richmond Street - a Beaux-Arts commercial office building and one of Toronto’s first-generation skyscrapers. For this building, WZMH Architects and
Plus VG Architects worked together to design a 20,000 sq. ft addition that “infills” the U-shaped building. The addition complements the existing building while providing more floor space and improving functionality. Other upgrades aimed to modernize the building envelope for sustainability, energy efficiency, automation, and better access to the Toronto PATH.
The project focused on restoring heritage features, and reconstructing façades to match the original 1923 design. This included the restoration of roof cornice crowning, stamped metal panels between the first and second-floor windows, windows with the original fenestration patterns and glazed white brick on the upper levels. The project was completed in 2021 and has achieved LEED v4 Gold Certification.