Leaside United Church

Toronto, Ontario

ADDITION | RENOVATION

RELIGIOUS | MIXED-USE

Leaside United Church is a Gothic Revival style church constructed in 1940. The community amalgamated with another church in 2017 and was looking for plans that will inspire the future vitality of the congregation and community.

Larkin Architect Limited assisted the church by conducting an extensive building condition review to determine any maintenance backlog and to ensure the ongoing vitality of the existing infrastructure. Concurrent to this process, visioning sessions were held to explore the congregational development plan, and the church ministries and activities to understand how the building could be adapted to make it more flexible, welcoming, and contemporary.

After review of a comprehensive feasibility study and an extensive stakeholder engagement process including public presentations, feedback sessions and surveys, key elements were selected. This process allowed the church to address the design elements most in line with their vision and supported by the community they served, thus ensuring best value.

The project was completed in a phased process to allow continuous operation of the facility while construction was completed.