Set in the polished-concrete living room floor of Bill Keay and Jordan Johnston's two-bedroom condo in the Merchandise Lofts building on Dalhousie Street, is a charming bit of archaeology, half-hidden under a sofa: the tiny, meandering footprints of a pigeon, laid down in fresh cement exactly one hundred years ago, and as quirkily appealing as the building's historic industrial design is for chic downtown living.
Built in 1910 and expanded in stages over the next 40 years, the Merchandise Building was originally erected as the headquarters for Simpson's cross-Canada mail-order business. Designed in the stately Chicago School industrial style, it featured such revolutionary (for the time) features as a reinforced-concrete and steel structure - sturdy and fireproof construction elements that proved their worth during the early stages of its conversion to condos in the mid-'90s, when a major fire consumed all the construction debris piled in the interior, but left the shell intact.After the demise of Simpson's, the building passed through several department-store hands before Cresford Developments bought it. The developer was one of the first to take advantage of relaxed zoning restrictions designed to encourage redevelopment of empty, historically interesting 19th- and 20th-century industrial buildings in downtown Toronto. The Merchandise Building's ambitious conversion, which engaged the services of star interior designers such as Brian Gluckstein and Ciccone-Simone, earned accolades not only within the industry but from Heritage Toronto, and continues to be a desirable address.
When it comes to a special building like this, it wouldn't do to just gut to the walls and renovate from scratch - the building itself, and its warehouse components, form a large part of the appeal. So when Mr. Keay and Mr. Johnston approached Eric McClelland and Peter Lunney of Fleur-de-Lis Design to design the interior of their new condo, the challenge was to blend the loft's historic elements into a warm and personalized home.
Mr. Keay, a design consultant, and Mr. Johnston, an equities trader, bought their first condo in the building four years ago. They originally considered buying and renovating a house, but at the time, Mr. Johnston was still studying for his trader's licence, making the idea of living in a construction zone unappealing. But all the condos they looked at were cramped and dingy compared with the Merchandise Building's soaring 14-foot ceilings and bright open layouts. They started with a one-bedroom unit, but when they moved up to a larger condo two years ago, they called in Fleur-de-Lis to tailor it to their tastes.
The principal problem was that the very same elements that made the loft attractive in the first place - classic warehouse features such as floor-to-ceiling windows, exposed ductwork, lofty ceilings, and concrete floors - also lent a certain coldness to the interior; neutral builder's finishes such as the beige tiles in the ensuite didn't help. The owners wanted to add warmth and comfort without diluting the spirit of the original. And since they constantly play host to hordes of family and friends, they wanted to reconfigure the main part of the condo both to accommodate visitors and for quiet evenings at home. The designers' response was to instill an earthy, masculine palette of brown, black, cream and metal punctuated with shots of clear red, and to balance the hard surfaces of the architecture with soft fabrics, textured wall coverings and natural or nature-derived materials.
The front door opens on a short hallway papered in grasscloth, a favourite with Mr. McClelland not only for its lighthearted '70s retro look but for its nature-inspired texture - great in a high-tech space like this one. Overhead is an irresistible detail: a spherical lighting fixture that looks like it's made out of scrunched-up white wire, casting a tangle of squiggly shadows on the ceiling. "It was worth buying just for the great shadows it casts," laughs Mr. McClelland.
The main space received most of the attention in the redesign. Before, an archway dividing the kitchen from the dining area squandered precious floor space and blocked part of the views through those tremendous windows. Once it was removed, they were able to completely reorder the space - tripling the kitchen area, and visually defining a new, comfortable "dining room" by replacing the archway with a simple raised panel in red lacquer that runs across the ceiling and down either side. To further minimize any interference with those million-dollar views, the services for the new, gargantuan kitchen island were discreetly enclosed inside a slender pipe that runs from one end of the island to the ceiling; it's barely noticeable, and quite in keeping with the industrial-chic motif.
In the main seating area, the loft's signature giant windows were actually a little too much of a good thing. To create needed coziness and block light when the owners are watching TV, the designers dressed the window in silky chocolate-coloured drapery fabric with a lighter panel on the lower section that matches the height of the sill. Overstuffed brown velvet sofas and tilting leather easy chairs add sink-into comfort, arranged around a low walnut coffee table. Built-ins take up the entire fireplace wall, concealing stereo and TV equipment behind a swath of walnut-stained ash panelling with a strong horizontal grain, a subtle counterpoint to the enclosed bulkheads and ceiling high overhead.
Down a hall painted in olive-green lacquer, which tones attractively with the polished cement floors, the master bedroom features a wall of boldly flocked red-and-cream wallpaper that acts as a giant headboard. Mr. McClelland acknowledges that the old saw that red is too stimulating for a bedroom doesn't always have to apply - and the fuzzy texture of the flocking adds another soft element. Besides, the real star of the room is the east-facing view from another floor-to-ceiling window; translucent blinds allow some of the morning light in, which the owners prefer.
For Mr. McClelland, the loft is a case study in how contrasts can increase the sum of the parts: modern with historic; soft with hard-edged; cozy with bright and open. "I think it proves that a loft, or any open-concept space, can still be cozy," he says. "It doesn't have to be stark and spare. This still feels like a loft, but it's more luxurious."
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