William McBrien Building

William McBrien Building (formally known as the W. C. McBrien Building) is the administrative headquarters of the Toronto Transit Commission. Designed by Charles B. Dolphin (1888-1969) and opened on February 7, 1958, the seven-storey building is located at 1900 Yonge Street above the Davisville subway station. The building is named for former TTC Chairman William C. McBrien who died in June 1954, shortly after the opening of the Yonge Subway.[1] The TTC's Customer Service Centre is located on the ground floor of the building.[2]

McBrien Building
General information
Architectural styleModernist
Address1900 Yonge Street
Town or cityToronto, Ontario
CountryCanada
Coordinates43°41′52″N 79°23′48″W
Current tenantsToronto Transit Commission
Opened1958
OwnerCity of Toronto government
Technical details
Floor count7
Design and construction
ArchitectCharles B. Dolphin

The building is 28 metres (92 ft) wide, 50 metres (163 ft) long and contains 11,000 square metres (120,000 sq ft) of floor space. Its exterior is made of limestone quarried at Queenston, Ontario. The main-floor lobby is lined with light brown Italian marble. The building incorporates an entrance to Davisville subway station located below street level as well as bus bays at ground level. The building design allows for expansion from its current seven storeys to ten storeys.[1]

Prior to the opening of the McBrien Building, the TTC head office was in the old Toronto Board of Trade Building (built 1890 and demolished 1958) located at the north-east corner of Yonge and Front streets. This was the TTC's first permanent home since April 1922. The TTC outgrew the old building with its limited floor space, and starting in 1928, the TTC had to acquire space elsewhere. Starting in 1953, functions such as purchasing, safety, research, engineering, among others were moved to the J.G. Inglis Building at the Hillcrest Complex. In 1958, the executive, legal and treasury functions moved to the McBrien Building.[1]

Relocation

In 2015, the TTC considered relocating from the building due to on going concerns about the state of the building, and for head office staff to be in one location.[3] Earlier plans to relocate to Yonge and York Mills had been rejected due to costs.[4]

Besides 1900 Yonge, the TTC leases 7 other locations to house head office staff.[5]

References
  1. Louis H. Pursley (1961). The Toronto Trolley Car Story 1921–1961. Interurbans: electric railway publications. p. 138.
  2. "Customer Service". Toronto Transit Commission. Retrieved September 19, 2020.
  3. Tess Kalinowski (November 20, 2015). "TTC wants to get out of 'hellhole' headquarters". Toronto Star. Retrieved November 1, 2015.
  4. "New TTC head office plan draws fire". CBC News Toronto. May 5, 2010. Retrieved November 1, 2015. TTC commissioners will consider the proposal to build a new head office at 4050 Yonge St., at the intersection of York Mills Road.
  5. "TTC, Build Toronto studying future head office needs". Coupler. Toronto Transit Commission. May 2010. Retrieved November 1, 2015.

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