Mount Dennis Bank of Nova Scotia, 1949. photographed in 1952 by Panda Associates
BUILDING INFORMATION
Name & Location:
Mount Dennis Bank of Nova Scotia 1150 Weston Road Toronto Mount Dennis
Owner:
Scotiabank
First Owner:
Bank of Nova Scotia
Occupant:
Scotiabank
First Occupant:
Bank of Nova Scotia
Year Completed:
1949
OTHER IDENTIFICATION
Notes:
The property at 1151 Weston Road was included on the City of Toronto Heritage Register in 2013. Situated at the north east corner of Weston Road and Eglinton Avenue, the site contains the building historically known as the Mount Dennis Bank of Nova Scotia (1949, addition 1981-2) now known as Scotiabank. The bank was originally a one-story L-shaped building clad in Indiana limestone and stucco with extensive areas of glazing and a projecting entry vestibule framed in stainless steel and three stone panels carved in relief. A one-story addition clad in stucco was added in 1981.
The bank is an institution of historical importance in Mount Dennis. Since first opening in 1913, a branch of the bank of Nova Scotia has existed at the intersection of Weston and Eglinton Roads and has been a part of Mount Dennis's evolution since its earliest days of emerging from a rural settlement to a community with a distinct identity.
The building's design is a significant example of a post World War II bank branch where a new emphasis on openness and accessibility to a wide-ranging population reflected the changing dynamics in post war society. The building's Modernist features exemplify this new sensibility in the simple one-story L-shaped form, flat roof extended in a shallow plane, asymmetry and extensive use of stainless steel and glass. In contrast, traditional Classical elements are present in the Indiana limestone cladding and the three stone panels carved in relief with the elements from the bank's seal: the Bluenose Schooner, a codfish and wheat with a plough. Selected in 1950 by the Journal of the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada as one of fourteen branch banks in Canada representing social and architectural changes after World War II it continues to be a dignified and accessible community facility.
Designed in 1946-8 the Bank of Nova Scotia is one of the earliest commissions of the important Canadian architectural practise known as Gordon S. Adamson and Associates (now Adamson Associates) which was founded in 1946 by Gordon Sinclair Adamson (1904-1986) and is credited with advancing Canadian modernism after World War II. The practise undertook a wide range of building types including the Savoy Plaza mid-rise apartment block (1951, Massey Medal recipient), the Redpath Sugar Refinery (1957, listed on the City's Heritage Inventory) and the E J Pratt Library at Victoria College,University of Toronto, (1960, OAA winner of 25-year Award in 1996) as well as numerous commercial buildings and institutional buildings in Toronto and across the province. Following his retirement in 1971 the practice continued to expand and grow with large projects in Toronto including Toronto Pearson International Airport redevelopment, Medical and Related Sciences (MaRS) Centre as well as commissions in partnership with internationally renowned practices in New York, London, Kuala Lumpur for which the firm has received multiple awards including one for the record-breaking Petronas Towers, the 2004 recipient of the Aga Khan Award for Architecture). The Bank of Nova Scotia represents an important early, small-scale commercial building in the development of the firm's body of work.
Contextually, the Bank of Nova Scotia (Scotiabank) stands as a neighbourhood landmark at the heart of the Mount Dennis community where it crowns the northeast corner of Weston Road and Eglinton Avenue. Its significance to the community was indicated in 1965 when Metro Council authorized the acquisition of land, the purchase and expropriation of properties and the funding of the relocation of the bank due to the widening of Eglinton Avenue. Originally in close proximity to the corner of the street, following its relocation, it is now set back from the intersection in a long lawn with pathways which is designated as public open space in Toronto's Official Plan.
As part of the Eglinton Crosstown Light Rail Transit: West Section Project, this building was identified as of interest and a cultural heritage resource report was prepared by Unterman McPhail Associates. While the initial design for the transit expansion would have had a major impact on the bank later designs indicated that the bank will be avoided. The listing on the Heritage Register was not anticipated to have an impact on the transit expansion plans or the Cross Eglinton LRT line. A nomination to include the property at 1151 Weston Road on the City's Heritage Register was submitted by the Mount Dennis Community Association with the support of the Etobicoke York Preservation Panel on 17 June 2013. A research report recommending inclusion of the property by Heritage Planning staff was prepared for the Toronto Preservation Board and Etobicok York Community Council on September 11, 2013.
