WoodGreen Community Services

60 Bowden

Opportunity

The Danforth Baptist Church, a heritage-designated building constructed in two phases, first in 1911 by architect John Francis Brown and later in 1931 by John Wilson Siddall, has long served its neighbourhood as a place of worship and community support. As the needs of the congregation evolved, the owners recognized an opportunity to adaptively reuse an increasingly underutilized structure, creating a new business case that would preserve the church’s history while extending its legacy of service through a community-focused redevelopment.

Response

The former church will be transformed into a mixed-use development delivering 50 affordable apartment units for underserved and at-risk seniors. The program includes shared spaces and amenities such as a commercial kitchen, community food bank, large gathering space, and a landscaped courtyard for residents, alongside dedicated areas that allow the Danforth Baptist Church congregation to continue worship on site. The two church towers and full Danforth Avenue façade will be retained, maintaining the building’s presence as a neighbourhood landmark, while an eight-storey mass timber residential addition is constructed over the retained church basement on the northern portion of the site. The design employs heavy timber and CLT construction using a flat-panel, prefabricated approach to support efficient construction timelines and advance the project’s sustainability objectives.