Beard Building, Former skyscraper at King Street East, Toronto, Canada.
The Beard Building was an early skyscraper on King Street East in Toronto comprising seven floors and reaching about 25 meters in height. It combined wood and brick in its construction and housed a bank branch on the ground floor with various offices above.
Designed in 1893 by architect E.J. Lennox, it marked an important step in Toronto's move toward vertical construction. The structure stood for four decades before demolition in 1935 made way for new development.
The building displayed Romanesque Revival features with arched windows and detailed stonework that reflected construction practices of the era. These architectural elements shaped how people experienced the structure as they passed by.
The location on King Street East was easily accessible and sat in the heart of the city's business district. Visitors can understand the site's historical significance through archival photographs and architectural records since the structure no longer stands.
Original plans called for nine floors with hotel space, but construction constraints reduced the final design to seven mixed-use stories. This change reveals the practical challenges faced by Toronto's early skyscraper architects.
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