Once a dilapidated space in an “undesirable” part of the city, the building’s 4,000-square-foot two-level penthouse suites now sell for millions of dollars in what Vogue magazine has called one of the “coolest” neighbourhoods in the world.
Many of Toronto’s century-old industrial buildings have been converted into stylish – and expensive – residential lofts. The Candy Factory Lofts on Queen Street is one example, located across the street from Trinity Bellwoods Park and an array of upscale eateries, boutiques and cocktail bars.
Once a dilapidated space in an “undesirable” part of the city, the building’s 4,000-square-foot two-level penthouse suites now sell for millions of dollars in what Vogue magazine has called one of the “coolest” neighbourhoods in the world.
But the story of how Victorian-era factories and warehouses like this one became expensive condominiums doesn’t travel in a straight line.
In 2018, a group of undergraduate students at the University of Toronto, led by Siobhan O’Flynn of University College’s Canadian Studies program, set out to uncover the histories hidden behind these buildings’ facades. Her third-year class on digital media created Hidden Histories: Labour to Lofts, a digital mapping project where students dove into archives to reconstruct the stories of industrial buildings in Toronto like the Candy Factory Lofts.
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