Location: Guelph, Ontario
Date of Completion: 1882
Architect: John Day
Date of Rehabilitation: 2015–2018
Heritage Architect: Allan Killin Architect Inc. 
Nominated by: Mike Schreiner, MPP (Guelph)
 
“Old ideas can sometimes use new buildings. New ideas must use old buildings.” - Jane Jacobs

After years of neglect and decay, the rehabilitation of Guelph’s Petrie Building went far beyond the restoration of its distinctive facade – it was also about contributing to the vitality and renewal of a downtown core by breathing new life into a traditional building form. 

Image Credit: Photography ©Hans Zegerius; www.GuelphRealEstatePhotographer.com  Petrie Building prior to rehabilitation.

Bringing Back the Petrie

In 2014, the National Trust listed the Petrie Building as one of the Top 10 Endangered Places in Canada; decades of neglect had seriously deteriorated many of its distinguishing features. Its iconic pressed metal facade – one of only three documented in Canada erected prior to 1890 – was in rough shape, and its distinctive mortar-and-pestle pediment had suffered significant deterioration. Three of its four floors had remained mostly unoccupied for the past 100 years and the building’s original storefront had long been lost. Complicating things further, its narrow footprint limited any retrofits that would allow the building to meet current requirements for exiting  and life safety.

Image Credit: Photography ©Hans Zegerius; www.GuelphRealEstatePhotographer.com
Interior of Petrie Building prior to rehabilitation.

These challenging conditions meant that bringing the Petrie back to life required more than just restoring its historic facade. Making it economically viable required numerous and extensive alterations to meet 21st century standards – all the while protecting its heritage character-defining elements.

This strategy of rehabilitation over restoration would be vital to the Petrie’s rebirth when Tyrcathlen Partners, a local developer with a passion for heritage structures, purchased the property in 2015.

Knowing that the building’s existing footprint was too small to accommodate the second set of stairs necessary to revitalize the upper floors (as well as meet contemporary egress requirements), the developer also purchased a portion of the adjacent neighbouring row of shops – an understated stone building dating back to c.1854. By joining these two properties and treating them as one larger building, they were able to accommodate all of the required circulation and life safety systems, overcoming one of the biggest obstacles to the building’s revitalization.

Section through the New Petrie Building revealing the two previous buildings
joined together and the new stairs that negotiate the different floor levels.
Drawing by Allan Killin Architect Inc.

Of course, joining these two buildings resulted in new challenges, including connecting a series of misaligned historic floor levels as well as ensuring proper fire separation, while simultaneously addressing the preservation and modernization needs of two distinct heritage structures.

Key to the project’s success was Part 11 of the Ontario Building Code, a section providing compliance alternatives for design and construction in existing buildings. These alternatives, when properly understood and applied, gave the flexibility required to re-imagine an existing structure without loss of built cultural or community identity.

Early 1900's postcard of Wyndham St. - The Petrie Building is visible as part of the main street  fabric.
Courtesy of Allan Killin Architect Inc.

New storefronts designed by the architect for the Petrie Building - in part referencing
what the original might have looked liked based on this artist engraving found in the attic.  
Drawing and image by Allan Killin Architect Inc.