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George Brown College The Chefs' House Restaurant

Completion Date

2009

Location

Toronto, Ontario

Photography

  • Tom Arban

Description

The extensive renovation and restoration of a turn-of-the-century factory and warehouse building on Toronto’s King Street East provides the setting for George Brown College’s new Chef’s House Restaurant and three storeys of classrooms above. Augmenting George Brown College’s renowned Chef School program, the Chef’s House is a fully functioning restaurant that provides students with an authentic learning experience and the city with an unusual dining destination.

The design showcases the building’s historic features while also transforming it with a contemporary spirit. Drawing connections to the college’s new Chef School building (which is visible from the restaurant), the Chef’s House entertains diners and passersby with the spectacle of the chefs’ activities and gives the chefs plenty of contact with their patrons.

The exterior of the listed, brick and steel building was restored and adorned with a custom-designed light installation, glass cladding and a glass canopy that help to distinguish the building as a signature place within the neighbourhood. The main floor was lowered two feet to grade level, facilitating a direct connection with the streetscape. Reflecting new philosophies within the culinary profession, a large, open-concept kitchen is located at the front of the restaurant. The kitchen is fully visible from the exterior through new, 15 foot high windows and the prep counters are flush against the windows so that as the chefs work, they become live mannequins and the restaurant’s best signage.

Entering the Chef’s House through a coloured-glass vestibule, patrons are struck by the contrast between the slick contemporary elements and the rawness of the exposed brick walls and wood ceiling of the host building. The kitchen’s industrial, stainless steel countertops, cupboards, ranges and ovens are framed by glossy red tiling and a backlit glass bar with a silky white quartz countertop that dips to serve as a hostess’ reception desk and doubles as a chef’s table.

Awards

  • OAA Award for Design Excellence 2009
  • World Architect Festival Awards – Education Shortlist 2009
  • ARIDO Award 2009
  • Best of Canada Award 2009
  • Design Exchange Award, Interior Design – Commercial 2009
  • IFI Best Overall Project Award 2009
  • IFI Best in Leisure and Hospitality Award 2009
  • Twenty + Change Exhibition of Contemporary Architecture, Landscape, and Urban Design 2007

Press

  • Toronto Star, George Brown cooking school fit for future celebrity chefs, Christopher Hume, August 2012
  • Canadian Interiors, Class Act: Top Marks to Gow Hastings Architects for a Plethora of Toronto School Projects, John Bentley Mays, May-June 2010
  • Image Interiors, Chef Special, March-April 2010
  • "Folio" Hinge Magazine, March 2010
  • Designlines Toronto, On the House, Natalia Williams, 2009
  • Building Strategies Magazine, George Brown Chef School, Dan O’Reilly, Winter 2009
  • Canadian Kitchen & Bath, Splash, Fall 2009
  • Identity Magazine, Educated Palette, July 2009
  • Plan Magazine, Come Dine With Me, June-July 2009
  • AZURE, Open Kitchen, Alex Bozikovic, June 2009
  • Toronto Star, Architecture Worth Savouring, Christopher Hume, February 2009
  • Globe and Mail, Yes, chef, yes! George Brown unveils its hospitality jewel, Sasha Chapman, November 2008
  • Daily Commercial News, George Brown Whips Up Innovative Showcase for Culinary Education, Patricia Williams, December 2007