{"id":666829,"date":"2026-05-13T14:21:08","date_gmt":"2026-05-13T14:21:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/666829\/"},"modified":"2026-05-13T14:21:08","modified_gmt":"2026-05-13T14:21:08","slug":"a-small-hamilton-office-building-repurposed-for-housing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/666829\/","title":{"rendered":"A small Hamilton office building repurposed for housing"},"content":{"rendered":"

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

The building at 700 Main St. E., Hamilton. Designed in 1962 (built 1963) by Polish \u00e9migr\u00e9 and University of Glasgow-trained architect Joseph Bronislaw Singer (1924 – 2013), it was once full of medical offices. It is now being converted into small apartments for independent adults who have come through the criminal justice system.The Globe and Mail<\/p>\n

When Hamilton architect Bill Curran began his professional journey in the mid-1980s, he worked on the second floor of 681 Main St. E., about a block away from Gage Park. And, as a fan of Modernist architecture, he\u2019d often catch himself staring at the jaunty blue-and-white building across the street.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis was my view,\u201d he tells Sue Phipps, CEO of the Canadian Mental Health Association, Hamilton Branch, as the pair stands on the sidewalk. \u201cIt was a jam-packed, go-go-go medical building; they had all different kinds of medical practitioners in here, a physio clinic and a little pharmacy. It was just a busy little place.\u201d<\/p>\n

Today, a drive along that same stretch of Main Street and it\u2019s clear the go-go-go, at some point, got up and went, as there are multiple, small-scale office buildings \u2013 many built during the postwar boom years \u2013 that are underused, underappreciated, and, in some cases, vacant. <\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re cheaper than houses [in some cases],\u201d Mr. Curran said during the drive to meet Ms. Phipps at 700 Main St. E. a few minutes earlier. \u201cThis one\u2019s been empty for years,\u201d he continued as he pointed to an Edwardian building. \u201cThey\u2019re in some use; I don\u2019t know how full that one is,\u201d he said as he pointed to another, \u201cbut a lot of them are just barely hanging on.\u201d<\/p>\n

Yet, their potential is enormous. Flexible floor plans, large windows, on major thoroughfares and designed by architects, Hamilton\u2019s small-scale office buildings were built to last. <\/p>\n

Seven-hundred Main St. E., for example, was designed in 1962 (built 1963) by Polish \u00e9migr\u00e9 and University of Glasgow-trained architect Joseph Bronislaw Singer (1924-2013), who came to Canada in 1954. And it\u2019s as good a building as Mr. Singer\u2019s better-known Hamilton Education Centre (1967), which the National Trust for Canada called his \u201csignature work\u201d and wrote that it was \u201cconsidered by many to be the city\u2019s best example of Mid-Century Modern architecture.\u201d Despite being featured on the Trust\u2019s \u201cTop 10 Endangered Places\u201d list, however, it was demolished in 2012.<\/p>\n

Seven-hundred, however, with its thin, round-top windows and graceful arches over wide basement windows at sidewalk level, looks like the Education Centre\u2019s dress rehearsal. Notable, too, is the speckly blue, glazed brick (damaged units could be harvested from the east side, beside the house at No. 704) and the chunky fieldstone at the base. The lobby is large and glassy, with walls of vertical bluish marble tile. Aesthetics aside, the building also \u201cticked all the boxes\u201d for Ms. Phipps during her search for a property that could be converted into small apartments for independent adults who have come through the criminal justice system.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had a list \u2026 and we didn\u2019t want to do a huge build,\u201d says Ms. Phipps. \u201cWe had about 15 clients that we were struggling to house; we did one walk-through and we [said] \u2018I think this is it\u2019 \u2013 we were shocked.\u201d<\/p>\n

Because the building already sported windows on both front and rear fa\u00e7ades, and, also, the first and second floors were already divided, lengthwise, by a corridor, that meant Mr. Curran and his team could create spacious, one-bedroom units \u2013 six per floor \u2013 each with multiple windows, while retaining the original hallway\u2019s terrazzo floors (the units are about 450 square feet but, with all the light, could pass for 600). <\/p>\n

\u201cOther housing providers are doing much smaller,\u201d says Ms. Phipps. \u201cThese are real homes [with] full kitchens.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Architourist: Luxury condos to sprout from a restored 1930s auto showroom in Toronto<\/a><\/p>\n

To save space, each of the 12 units contains only a shower, but, with a nod to the importance of \u201chydrotherapy,\u201d there will be a \u201cspa room\u201d with a soaker tub that can be booked in advance, says Ms. Phipps. \u201cMindfulness activities,\u201d she adds with a smile.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a very simple conversion, architecturally, compared to some of the other buildings we looked at,\u201d offers Mr. Curran. <\/p>\n

Conditions of funding the CMHA received meant that there had to be a percentage of accessible units, and, luckily, a ramp already existed just inside the building\u2019s back door. That meant three barrier-free\/fully accessible units could be built in the semi-basement, complete with walkouts, and, additionally, the existing elevator (added a few decades after construction) will allow residents of those units to visit friends on the first or second floor.<\/p>\n

The remaining portion of the high-ceilinged, semi-basement area, says Mr. Curran, will contain a common room, a full kitchen for community meals or cooking classes, a lounge space with fireplace, and a few small offices for staff (Ms. Phipps stresses, however, that staff is not there in a \u201cpaternalistic\u201d way to monitor the occupants), a few small meeting rooms, a central laundry (there are machines on floors one and two as well), and bicycle storage. Yes, there is room for all of that.<\/p>\n

The Architourist: Toronto Transit Commission taps youth brigade for future design ideas<\/a><\/p>\n

Outside, most of the asphalt will be replaced with landscaping, since residents don\u2019t own vehicles and only a few CMHA cars will need to park during the day. This will add to the already nice view of the fine homes along Eastbourne Avenue for residents whose rooms face south. And speaking of fine homes, residents with units facing north onto Main Street will gaze along Proctor Boulevard, one of only four streets in Hamilton to feature landscaped centre strips built during the \u201cCity Beautiful\u201d movement of the early 20th-century (No. 30 Proctor Blvd. was once the home to 24th lieutenant-governor of Ontario Lincoln Alexander).<\/p>\n

With the current affordable housing shortage, 700 Main St. E., is a good reminder of what can be done with a little creative thinking and instructive for those bureaucrats who enjoy tying reams of red tape around potential solutions.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe talked the city into funding apartment conversions of office buildings, but they only did downtown,\u201d finishes Mr. Curran. \u201cThis building is not covered by that grant \u2026 so in these off-prime locations, if we can subsidize to help push people, I think that\u2019s a good use of money.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Open this photo in gallery: The building at 700 Main St. E., Hamilton. Designed in 1962 (built 1963)…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":666830,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[967,76,354,355,49,48,356,75,968],"class_list":["post-666829","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-arts-and-design","tag-architourist","tag-arts","tag-arts-and-design","tag-artsanddesign","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-design","tag-entertainment","tag-real-estate"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/666829","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=666829"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/666829\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/666830"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=666829"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=666829"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=666829"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}