Formerly the Allstream Centre, the Beanfield Centre is a revitalization of a 1929 Art Deco automotive building and a historic landmark, creating a state-of-the-art conference and events destination within Toronto’s Exhibition Place.
Challenge
The challenge was to adapt a historic building that had undergone decades of unsympathetic renovations into a modern conference centre. Balancing heritage preservation with contemporary expectations for event, meeting, and hospitality spaces required careful integration of new systems and functionality within the existing structure.
Solution
Our design restored the building’s principal character-defining exterior elements, upgraded the building envelope, and reimagined the interior as a flexible event venue. The original two-storey exhibition hall was transformed into a 44,000-square-foot grand ballroom that can be divided into multiple configurations, supported by generous pre-function areas, robust back-of-house facilities, and 20 conference rooms on the mezzanine level.
Outcome
The Beanfield Centre combines the character of its original Art Deco architecture with the performance of a modern hospitality facility. Achieving LEED® Silver certification, the project extends the life of a significant heritage asset while providing Toronto with a highly functional conference, meeting, and event destination.
Our design transformed a two-storey central exhibition hall into a LEED Silver certified hospitality building while retaining its original Art Deco qualities.
Designed for versatility, the ballroom can be divided into multiple event configurations
The Beanfield Centre, previously known as the Allstream Centre, is a revitalization of the 1929 Art Deco automotive building that is a historical fixture at Toronto’s 192-acre (77-hectare) Exhibition Place. It served as a venue for exhibiting new autos until the 1960s, then underwent several unsympathetic renovations before the decision was made to convert the outdated building into a state-of-the-art conference centre.
NORR restored the principal character-defining aspects of the exterior, upgraded the building envelope and transformed the interior into a modern, highly functional conference, meeting and event facility. The Hospitality studio transformed the original two-story central exhibition hall into a 44,000 square foot (4,087 square meter) grand ballroom that is divisible into specified configurations based on need. NORR provided robust back-of-house facilities, ample pre-function space around the ballroom and designed 20 conference rooms on the mezzanine level. The result is a LEED Silver certified hospitality building that retains its original Art Deco qualities in a modern exhibition context.
