Beach United Church

"There are many places that come to mind that I’ve visited once, or just a few times, or have heard of and wanted to visit—spectacular museums that have been wonderful to discover, playgrounds that have appealed to my young child’s sense of adventure, multi-unit housing that aims to be sensitive to its place in the city and the daily needs of its inhabitants. We strive to published such projects in Canadian Architect magazine each month. But there are also measures of quality that perhaps can only be appreciated through visiting a space with some frequency, and understanding how it functions over time. It’s a bit like getting to know a friend and appreciating the qualities and quirks of their character: there is a certain relationship that you develop with places after having experienced them on several occasions, in different seasons of the year, and when you are yourself in different emotional states. For this reason, I’d like to present the Beach United Church, in east Toronto, as an example of architectural quality. The original church dates back to 1914, and was renovated in 2013 by Black & Moffat architects. The worship space occupies the upper loft, and it’s designed to be open concept—instead of fixed pews, chairs are placed in a variety of configurations for Sunday services. This means that the large space can also be used by community groups, and that’s how I’ve encountered it. For the past decade, I’ve been part of an improvised dance community that meets on Tuesday evenings. Over the past year, the group has rented the church’s main hall for our dance jams. While bounding across the room and rolling on the floor, I’ve appreciated the warm qualities of the exposed brick walls, the large arched windows, and above all, the majestic wood ceiling. The faceted arches of the ceiling appear parabolic in geometry, recalling the ceilings of Dom Paul Bellot’s worship hall crowning the St. Joseph Oratory in Montreal. The space feels complete, if different, whether there are a half dozen dancers in the room, or three dozen. Our dance jams have recently included live music, which brings an added dimension to the hall, which has lovely, warm, acoustics. There are some practical elements that can also be appreciated about this space: it is fully accessible (and our dances have occasionally included a wheelchair user), and has a sliding glass divider to a room that we use as a spill-over social space—a feature that allows this room to be connected, yet acoustically separate, from the main dance area. Downstairs is another large community room, which is rented out to an AA group on Tuesday evenings. Kitchen areas on both floors allow for catered events, and have been used for free meal programs serving seniors and community members. Efficient mechanical systems and a large rooftop solar PV system (the latter installed during a time when a provincial grant program for solar systems was active) provides energy savings and annual income for the church. For me, this is an example of architecture that is not flashy, but is well-designed as a community space. It has a kind of timeless beauty and generosity that makes it a pleasurable place to be, week after week." (Booklet Positive Lived Experiences of Quality in the Built Environment 2023, p.87). Google map link: https://www.google.com/maps/place/Beach+United+Church/@43.6715495,-79.2989409,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m6!3m5!1s0x89d4cc0736cfda21:0x65e5fc3e7323a090!8m2!3d43.6715495!4d-79.296366!16s%2Fg%2F1tfxhp2b