{"id":682101,"date":"2026-05-20T14:59:18","date_gmt":"2026-05-20T14:59:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/682101\/"},"modified":"2026-05-20T14:59:18","modified_gmt":"2026-05-20T14:59:18","slug":"new-love-for-an-old-bank","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/682101\/","title":{"rendered":"New love for an old bank"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

Raw Signal Group headquarters in the renovated Imperial Bank building at 1414 Danforth Ave., Toronto.Rick O’Brien Photographer<\/p>\n

Up until the early 1950s and the arrival of the International Style to our shores, banks were fortresses, dressed in the familiar architectural robes of the ancient Greeks: pediment, entablature, column, with the sidewalk usually working as the stylobate (base).<\/p>\n

So, when the Imperial Bank of Canada decided to replace their small, squat, 1920 brick building at the corner of Danforth and Monarch Park avenues with a permanent edifice in 1927 \u2013 the east end neighbourhood had been growing rapidly since the Prince Edward Viaduct opened in 1918 \u2013 architects Charles Langley and William Howland presented drawings for a wide, columned, limestone-clad and dentil-moulded building not unlike banks they\u2019d done at 2896 Dundas St. W. or 3 King St. S. in Waterloo, Ont. While none of these had pediments, they more than made up for it with extra-thick walls and broad shoulders. Money, in here, was safe.<\/p>\n

However, with enough deferred maintenance, ill-advised coats of exterior paint, unsympathetic interior renovations, and poor signage choices, even fortresses can begin to look frail. <\/p>\n

Despite that, when Melissa and Johnathan Nightingale toured the old Imperial Bank at 1414 Danforth Ave., which had been a cheque cashing and payday loans business since the 1990s, they could see past the water-damaged drop ceiling, cheap floor tiles, indiscreet tunnelling through moulding and the tacky bulletproof screens, at the building\u2019s big, strong bones.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe vast majority of Toronto inventory, particularly on the commercial side, is 20 by 100 [feet],\u201d says Ms. Nightingale. \u201cBut we needed width, and width is very hard to find in Toronto.\u201d<\/p>\n

Their company, Raw Signal Group, hosts management trainees from around the world; a wide, welcoming space to allow folks to enter, mingle, hang up coats, easily spot the coffee station, and then gather for the day\u2019s sessions wasn\u2019t a frill; it was a core principle of the business model. <\/p>\n

After touring and rejecting 50 properties such as small warehouses and multistoried offices, there was but one solution left, says Mr. Nightingale: \u201cOur realtor said, \u2018I know a place that\u2019s not for sale, they\u2019ve been trying to rent it. Let me see if they\u2019d be willing to look at a sale instead.\u2019\u201d And so, $4-million later, the old Imperial Bank was the RSG\u2019s new headquarters. Little did the Nightingales know it would take another $2-million for the transformation.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt helps to be stupid,\u201d Ms. Nightingale says with a smile. \u201cAnd to believe that the hard part of restoration is having the original terrazzo floors underneath. That was not the hard part. The hard part is getting all the crap off to be able to see them.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSo much of it was \u2018Well, I hope,\u2019\u201d adds her husband. \u201cI hope once we\u2019re done demolition, there\u2019s something there we can restore; If there isn\u2019t, we\u2019ll figure something else out. But we knew, structurally, that it would do what we needed.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSomebody put care into everything that was original here,\u201d finishes Ms. Nightingale, who grew up in Baltimore. \u201cThen, for many years, nobody cared. And so, coming in, we [said] \u2018We understand what our job is as stewards of the building \u2026 and in relation to Toronto history.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Architourist: A small Hamilton office building repurposed for housing<\/a><\/p>\n

But the more noble the task, the more painful the pitfalls. <\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019d [ask] \u2018What are we going to discover today?\u2019 and we\u2019d park and we\u2019d brace for [something] behind [whatever] wall [had come down],\u201d says Mr. Nightingale. \u201cAnd we get out of the car \u2013 the backyard wasn\u2019t fenced in at the time it was all mud \u2013 and there was a frying pan with a dead rat in it.\u201d <\/p>\n

Thankfully, that grisly find and the dirty mattresses that surrounded it are now a distant memory. To be invited inside 1414 Danforth Ave. is an absolute heritage-lover\u2019s dream: past a new wrought iron gate, doors open to wonderfully shiny terrazzo floors underfoot (interestingly, they stop where the old teller cages began), a tall ceiling with reproduction moulding overhead (the original was too damaged to keep). There\u2019s a lovely kitchenette called \u201cThe Blue Bar\u201d to the left and, in the distance, the 1960s vault turned into the coolest chill-out room (all by interior designers MetteSpace).<\/p>\n

The basement, once \u201cmurder-y,\u201d is now outfitted with three washrooms, a massive catering kitchen, more safes, and tons of storage. \u201cIf you ask someone in real estate, they\u2019ll [say] \u2018Well, that square footage doesn\u2019t count.\u2019 Well, we use it \u2013 that\u2019s 2200 square feet!\u201d<\/p>\n

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

Accessed via a separate entrance, the second floor contains office space for the couple and their two employees, and a digital room where online courses are held. And while the Nightingales have opened things up, replacement bits of wood flooring trace out original walls for a dentist and an accountant\u2019s office, and, in the rear, the bank manager\u2019s apartment, complete with a fireplace.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe fireplace was in the original 1927 Langley and Howland blueprints,\u201d says Ms. Nightingale.<\/p>\n

Pointing to the blueprint, Mr. Nightingale adds, \u201cHere is how we want the masonry to look like on the front.\u201d<\/p>\n

Speaking of masonry, after a test with chemical strippers and steam revealed healthy limestone underneath the paint, the Nightingales are preparing to spend $100,000 to bring their south and east fa\u00e7ades back to life (the north and west are brick) \u2026 but not before welcoming the neighbourhood during Doors Open.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can\u2019t move into a building like this and not take care of it,\u201d finishes Mr. Nightingale.<\/p>\n

Raw Signal Group, 1414 Danforth Ave., will be open both days for Toronto\u2019s annual Doors Open, May 23 & 24.<\/p>\n

Unrelated: If you missed my book launch party, I\u2019ll be at Swipe Design, 401 Richmond St. W., during Doors Open, May 23 only, from noon to 3 p.m.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Open this photo in gallery: Raw Signal Group headquarters in the renovated Imperial Bank building at 1414 Danforth…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":682102,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194291],"tags":[967,49,48,968,3302],"class_list":["post-682101","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-toronto","tag-architourist","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-real-estate","tag-toronto"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/682101","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=682101"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/682101\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/682102"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=682101"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=682101"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=682101"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}