Brutalist Form at a Residential Scale in Downtown Toronto

Masonry is unique among the trades. It is the only one in which the tradesmen still show up every morning in the same way they have for hundreds of years: with a level, a brick hammer and a trowel.

The equipment has changed, and in many cases so too have the materials, but the traditional techniques of the masonry craft remain the same. It is with this in mind that the Lyons Heritage Masonry crew showed up to work last summer on one of the most unapologetically modern residential builds this city has seen in a long time.

I can only describe this building as a combination of Frank Lloyd Wright (think long, horizontal sight planes) and 1970s concrete Brutalist Toronto (think Robarts Library).

What I like most about this project is not just that it is a wildly unique design, nor that it is one of the first throw-backs to 1970s Toronto concrete sci-fi, but rather that it is confined to the restrictions of the original skeleton of the structure. Right down to the exterior courtyard and mid-plan lightwell, the footprint of the original building has not changed.

Published under the title, “Concrete Toronto: A Guidebook to Concrete Architecture from the Fifties to the Seventies,” Michael McClelland and Graeme Stewart curate a series of essays that challenge traditional conceptions of heritage.

McClelland and Stewart ask, “Why is it that we like some buildings and dislike others?”

Throughout the progress of this build, the response from the neighbourhood ranged from indignant to exhilarated. For myself, it wasn’t until I started working through some of the more challenging details on the job that I began to appreciate the impact of such bold concrete forms and patterns within a dense residential context.

Whether this project resonates with you or not, it is the attention to the fundamentals of quality masonry installation that allows Lyons Heritage Masonry to effectively express the stylistic vision of distinctive designs, both contemporary and traditional.

Next quarter we will continue to explore the incorporation of seemingly contradictory elements within the projects that are beginning to characterize the body of work created by Lyons Heritage Masonry. Please peruse the suggested resources as you like and share the link with anyone who may be interested.

Thank you for taking the time to read this piece and for your continued collaboration in our future projects.