Union Station (Toronto) - Structure

Structure

Toronto's Union Station is the largest and most opulent railway station in Canada. The building was designed by the Montreal architecture firm of Ross and Macdonald in the Beaux-Art style as a joint venture between the Grand Trunk Railway and the Canadian Pacific Railway, with assistance from CPR architect Hugh Jones and Toronto architect John M. Lyle. Its design was cited in 1975 by the Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada as being of "national architectural significance as one of the finest examples of Beaux-Arts railway station design in Canada."

The bilaterally symmetrical building comprises three connecting box masses facing Front Street West, with the main structure in the middle. Together, the three parts measure 752 feet (229 m) long and occupy the entire south side of the block between Bay Street in the east and York Street in the west.

The exterior Front Street facade is laid out in an ashlar pattern, constructed with smooth beige Indiana and Queenston limestone. The colonnaded porch which faces Front Street features 22 equally spaced Roman Tuscan columns made from Bedford limestone, each 40 feet (12 m) high and weighing 75 tons. Fourteen three-storey bays, each with severely delineated fenestration, form the facade on either side of the central colonnade for a total of 28 bays. The structures at either end have an additional ten bays. There are three rectangular windows in each bay, lighting the interior hall with plenty of natural light. However, the external profile of the building is quite hard and flat, with its line of huge columns, heavy ornamentation and strong symmetry.

The receded main entrance is framed by two sets of four columns, with relief wreaths carved into the entablature above the columns. These columns are composed of three separate segments on top of an incongruous octagonal plinth, implying an Ionic order or Corinthian order; however, the capital is sculpted in a Doric order. Consequently, these columns appear to be unfinished. The original plan for the columns is not known.

A wraparound dentil cornice and a pushed-back peaked hipped roof creates the illusion of a flat roof, just like a palazzo. On either side of the main entrance, a blind arch with an ornamental keystone contains a set of three steel-framed doors, along with a large arched window. Decorative friezes separate the arched window from the doors. When all these entryway elements are combined, they create a processional experience through the entryway into the grand interior space. The flat-roof illusion, together with the axial symmetry, classical detailing in both structural and decorative elements, heavy ornamentation, and formal setting is typical of the Beaux-Arts style.

The front entranceway opens onto the expansive Ticket Lobby, which has come to be informally known as the "Great Hall". This part of Union Station runs the entire length of the main section. It is 250 feet (76 m) long and 88 feet (27 m) high at its highest point. Just as with the outside facade, enduring materials such as bronze, limestone, marble, tiles, and translucent glass create a sense of enduring quality.

The entire space is lit with diffused natural light from clerestory windows refracted throughout the lobby. Each end of the Great Hall also features four-storey tall arched windows, based on those of Roman baths.

The two-storey-high vaulted ceiling, which is what makes it look from the front as though a second building were rising behind the colonnade, is constructed of coffered Guastavino tiles. The walls are faced with Zumbro stone from Missouri, and the floors are constructed of Tennessee marble laid in a herringbone pattern. Below the cornice surrounding the "Great Hall" are carved the names of many Canadian destinations, from the east coast all the way to Vancouver, which were accessible via the Grand Trunk Railway or Canadian Pacific Railway at the time of the station's construction. Many of those destinations are still on Via Rail routes.

All of Via Rail's ticket, baggage, and information counters are located in this space, mostly lined against the front wall. (Via Rail ticket agents also handle all ticketing sales and baggage services for Amtrak.) Small restaurants and other stores line the opposite wall. The main clock and the main departures board are in the centre of the space. A stairwell is located at either end of the hall, which leads to the arrivals area one floor below and also connects to urban transit. Benches are available by the stairwells at either end for passengers and those meeting them, although most people prefer to wait in the departure area, which is located down a large ramp located in the centre of the back wall.

The departure area is a large, wide space underneath the tracks. Most of Union Station's seating areas are located there, as well as lounges for the use of Via 1 passengers. Seventeen gates line the east and west walls of the departure area, each with an escalator heading up to the track level.

Stairways at either end of the "Great Hall" lead to the Arrivals Concourse which is used by Via Rail and Amtrak for inter-city train passengers. There is access from this level to the GO Concourse, which is used by GO Transit commuter train passengers, as well as access to the TTC subway and streetcar station and the PATH pedestrian tunnel network which connects to the Royal York Hotel and many of the major buildings in the central business district. Union Station also features office space used by the TTR, GO Transit and CN and CP.

Union Station has appeared in various films and television series, often representing settings in other cities.