The Theatre Centre/former Carnegie Library – 1115 Queen Street West

GBCA is lead architect for the adaptive reuse of a former Carnegie Library Building in Toronto into a theatre space for a registered charity known as The Theatre Centre. While the organization has been an integral part of the arts scene in Toronto for over 30 years, they have not had a permanent home—for over a decade, the Theatre Centre has leased the lower level of the Great Hall on Queen Street West. The opportunity to relocate to a more appropriate space came about through a long-term lease with the City of Toronto for the historically designated former library building.

Our assignment was to work with Staff and the Board of The Theatre Centre to develop a specific programme for the organization that would not only accommodate their goals of establishing an arts hub, but also fit within the existing building. The design of a modest and sympathetic addition will improve the functionality of the building.

The interior planning of the retrofit was informed by the existing interior spaces and finishes, with the goal of maintaining the original internal configuration – for example, the original reading room of the library, with its detailed plaster mouldings, will be adapted as the main theatre space. The addition was designed to serve as the new main entrance and lobby for the theatre centre. By placing the addition to the rear of the heritage building (made possible by the fact that the building is situated on a corner lot), the impact of the modern feature on the key heritage-character defining features of the original building was minimized. A new addition better accommodated the modern requirements of a theatre building and provided opportunities for barrier-free access.

Ground broke for construction in October 2012 and the building is scheduled to open in 2014.

Read more about the Centre here: http://theatrecentre.org/?p=438