The recent shut down of Toronto's more than 90-year-old Campbell Soup factory has proven itself to be an "m'm m'm good" opportunity for industrial developers.
A site plan approval application submitted to the City of Toronto this summer shows that QuadReal and Weston Consulting have big plans for the old eight-building complex at 60 Birmingham Street in South Etobicoke.
Those plans feature three brand new one-story industrial warehouse spaces designed by Ware Malcomb Architecture, but with a series of exterior facades retained from 1931 and 1944.
Old and new materials will combine to make a new industrial complex with some historical flare. Image by Ware Malcomb.
Renderings show a blend of sleek, modern offices attached to the factory's original red brick walls.
"The proposed modern facades are to include a mix of insulated metal panels in a palette of grey and white tones that have been selected to provide a muted facade that is sensitive to the surrounding residential neighbourhoods views of the site, and to defer to the heritage sections," writes Urban Toronto of the design.
If all goes as planned, the complex wil eventually house roughly 76,085 square metres of industrial space and another 1,858 square metres of office space across three buildings.
Eight old buildings will be replaced by three much larger, connected buildings on the old Campbell Soup factory site. Image by Ware Malcomb.
While the property will remain an industrial zone, it's unlikely that any soup will be produced there again.
As The Campbell Soup Company itself said in 2018 when announcing the plant's closure, demand for canned soup in North America is on the steep decline.
Fortunately for those who grew up in the area and have fond memories of picturing big vats of swimmable tomato soup inside the factory, which first opened in 1931, Etobicoke's former soup palace will live on through at least a few retained walls.
by Lauren O'Neil via blogTO
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