2 Queen St. West, Toronto

Nominated for the Peter Stokes Restoration Award: Large-Scale/Team/Corporate

The restoration of 2 Queen Street West in Toronto represents a significant effort to preserve one of the city’s few remaining 19th-century commercial buildings. Originally constructed in 1885 for the Philip Jamieson Outfitter Company, the building is a rare example of Victorian-era commercial architecture. 

There were substantial challenges due to years of alterations and earlier restoration attempts. With much of the original façade altered or damaged, the team relied on a single surviving archival photograph and scant historical records to recreate key elements of the original design. The project involved the cataloguing of the envelope and the dismantling of much of the exterior masonry and structural interventions, as well as the restoring or replicating of badly damaged heritage stone, metal and wooden elements.

The masonry facade was previously sandblasted to remove coats of paint, with a great portion of it concealed behind metal panels. The visible masonry was badly eroded, and a majority of the exposed terracotta and sandstone elements had been surface repaired with polymer-modified mortar patching which had severely damaged them and could not be successfully removed. Damaged material had to, therefore, be replaced with new material. Along with the restoration of the masonry facade, one of the most complex tasks was the conservation of nine original curved wood windows. These windows were salvaged and restored to their original profile and function, and reinstalled. New solid wood windows were fabricated to match the original style for the remainder of the building where the originals were lost, ensuring better thermal performance and consistency throughout.

This project preserves a rare piece of Toronto’s Victorian streetscape while demonstrating exceptional craftsmanship, innovation, and respect for historical integrity.

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The completed restoration from Yonge St.

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Left: The Philip Jamieson Building in 1896; Right: Corner view of 2 Queen St. West before the restoration