Restored exterior

Reconstruction by computer, courtesy City of Edmonton Planning Department

Aerial View of Contstruction, photo: Tim Ferguson, courtesy Eye in the Sky Aerial Photography

Gibson Block from Jasper Avenue, photo: James Dow, April 1995

Barry Johns Architects

About the Project

In 1913 during a building boom, real estate speculator William Gibson developed an office building on an awkward piece of land on Jasper Avenue. Although his venture brought financial ruin within a year, the Gibson Block remains one of several flatiron buildings in North America completed during this time. Shaped like the flat clothing irons of the day, the Gibson Block had a celebrated identity. A rooming house for decades, it fell into disrepair through neglect and abuse, closing its doors permanently in the 1970's.

Process

A task force initiated by the mayor in 1993 provided the catalyst to save the building from the wreckers' ball. Now a designated historic building, the project finds new life as an emergency shelter for transient women. It is an excellent example of collaboration between hundreds of individuals, professionals, volunteer groups and the public sector. Private sector donations, grants and government mortgages financed the construction, completed in less than one year through the auspices of a volunteer steering committee administering the work. The architects and construction manager were part of a larger team consisting of fund raisers, historians, heritage groups, planners, all three levels of government and the operators of the women's shelter itself.

A history book published in 1995 chronicles the project from its origins in 1912, completing the volunteer effort.

Design

The program called for 50 beds with individual toilet and bath rooms including provision for the disabled. Administration offices, emergency health care and food service facilities complete the programme.

The layout of the original building was readily adaptable to the new requirements. A new fire exit stair and elevator fit into the existing shell without impacting the exterior appearance .

The top two floors house the bedrooms and the second floor is for administration services. The ground floor is the food service area and a meeting room occupies the narrow 'toe' of the building. Lounges for each floor are in the toe section as well, affording panoramic views across the river valley.

Construction

The project restoration followed the spirit of the original. Built as a celebration of craft, windows were assembled in situ as the masonry was erected. Oversized wood lintels formed the window heads and shored the brick arches that carry the walls above them. The original stairs, railings and mouldings are dimension lumber also assembled on site. There are no prefabricated elements or machined fabrications.

Replicated material faithful to this spirit replaced components that could not be salvaged.

The quality of the masonry work in particular proved exemplary--walls are found straight and true. Computer analysis of the original drawings in the city archives shows the variance between the actual building and the original documents to be a mere one eighth of an inch. The masonry needed cleaning and repointing only. The original mortar was however soft, due to coal dust as a colouring agent in the mix.

Rotten from years of neglect and roof leaks, the interior wood frame and plaster walls needed replacement. A tinted, breathable sealer protects the exposed uninsulated masonry walls.

Over 60% of the original 'prism' glass frieze was salvageable above the storefronts on the main floor. A glass foundry located after an exhaustive search in Europe and North America replicated the 100 mm x 100 mm tiles to match the existing. Serrated on one side and reeded on the other, the manganese in the silica mix gives a beautiful bluish cast and creates a wonderful spectral array in the sunshine.

Images for this page were extracted from the book:
Flatiron Legacy One of Heritage and Help
Published in 1995 by The Edmonton City Centre Church Corporation
ISBN 0-969-9280-0-9

Drawings

View the drawings of the Gibson Block.

Project Details

Location		Edmonton, Alberta
Client		Women's Emergency Accommodation Centre
Architects		Barry Johns Architects
Cost		$2 300 000
Completion		1994

Other Barry Johns Architects Projects

Duclos Elementary School

This project was published on 1996.05.01.

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