city building : Featured Stories

Downtown Toronto's Salvation Army Gateway shelter has turned a liability -- its dirty laundry -- into a revenue source and in the process given homeless men steady employment and work experience.

Brian Curtner, a partner with the architecture firm Quadrangle, is one of the leaders of Toronto's adaptive reuse movement. Here he discusses why we should reuse our old buildings instead of tearing them down, and some of the challenges and rewards of doing so.

A mile of pipe zig-zags under College Street in order to transfer heat from the Earth into the rooms of "the greenest hotel in North America." For general contractor Anthony Aarts, an innovative project like this is the build of a lifetime.

How activist Philip Wong discovered that a strong brand is critical to building a strong charity when the venerable Lesbian and Gay Community Appeal relaunched as Community One.

The Artscape Triangle Lofts turned a messy situation into an opportunity for artists as well as Queen Street West's arty reputation.

Design Hope Toronto is raising funds for Parkdale Activity-Recreation Centre's new supportive housing complex, Edmond Place, with a grassroots art auction.

Toronto's posse of community animators inject strategy and know-how into the ambitions of eco-activists. The City of Toronto's new $10-million, five-year Live Green Community Animators Program hopes to facilitate information and resource sharing.