Loading Please Wait
Loading Please Wait
Loading Please Wait
2001 – Canadian Architect Award, Award of Excellence
2007 – Ontario Association of Architects, Design Excellence Award
2007 – Toronto Architecture and Urban Design Awards, Award of Excellence in the "Building in Context - Public" category
This building was originally a natural gas purification centre, and later was used for smelting. It sat vacant for many years, but in 2004 re-opened with an addition and was converted into a police station.
This property's heritage contribution lies in its historic role in the industrialisation of the District in the late 19th century, its historic association with the Consumers Gas Company, and its contemporary association with the Toronto Police Services. This contribution is also tied to the building's prominent siting on the corner of Front Street East and Parliament Street, its position as a view terminus when looking east along Front Street, and its relation to 251 Front Street East (an architecturally-similar Consumers Gas Company structure from the late 19th century). 51 Parliament Street contributes to the physical character of the District through its uniform elevation with repetitive windows and bays, its lack of porosity at street level, its large building footprint and materiality (red brickwork with stone detailing), and attributes which characterize industrial buildings in the District.
