The Beard Building was a seven-

storey A storey (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English) or story (American English), is any level part of a building with a floor that could be used by people (for living, work, storage, recreation, etc.). Plurals for the wor ...

Richardsonian Romanesque Richardsonian Romanesque is a architectural style, style of Romanesque Revival architecture named after the American architect Henry Hobson Richardson (1838–1886). The revivalism (architecture), revival style incorporates 11th- and 12th-century ...

highrise in

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

, Canada that is considered to be Toronto's first skyscraper. Designed by E. J. Lennox and completed in 1894, initial plans were for a nine-storey, iron-framed structure, but a more traditional wood-brick combination with seven storeys was settled upon. The Beard Building consisted of a bank at street level, a commercial and office tower, and a hotel. A branch of The Bank of Commerce occupied the building's main space on its ground floor. Above that, the hotel never opened because of the design of the building. However, the space above the ground floor was leased to businesses as office space. The building was named after George T. Beard, the original landowner of the site. The Beard Building was demolished in 1935 and was replaced by a

gas station A filling station (also known as a gas station [] or petrol station []) is a facility that sells fuel and engine lubricants for motor vehicles. The most common fuels sold are gasoline (or petrol) and diesel fuel. Fuel dispensers are used to ...

a few years later.

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