A historic industrial complex on Dufferin Street has completed its transformation from manufacturing hub to creative workspace. The former Toronto Hardware Manufacturing Company plant at 390-440 Dufferin Street, which operated for approximately 115 years, was ultimately divided into 43 studios housing artists and small businesses.
The site's industrial roots run deep. A cornerstone visible at the entrance to the single-storey front office building at 440 Dufferin bears the dates 1880-1902, marking the founding and expansion of the Toronto Hardware Manufacturing Company. The company was formed as a partnership between prominent Toronto businessmen Harry Patterson and George Gouinlock and manufactured plumbers' supplies, galvanised range boilers (water heaters) and soil pipe (iron sewer pipe).
Like other early 1900s industrial plants, the factory was strategically positioned to take advantage of a rail corridor that crossed the city's street grid diagonally. The plant's sidings and freight shed were part of a rail terminal established directly behind the property, with aerial surveys showing this rail connection remained in use until the early 1960s.
The complex's fate shifted significantly in the mid-twentieth century. On February 3, 1953, the New York Times reported that the Toronto Hardware Manufacturing Company had been purchased by Affiliated Gas Equipment Ltd. of Cleveland, and the company's name soon disappeared from the city directory. For several decades the factory buildings remained only partially occupied before becoming known as the Massey Ferguson building, serving as a warehouse for the nearby Massey Ferguson Toronto Plant.
A new chapter began in 1980 when Bill Nyman, who had studied design at Central Tech, moved his furniture factory Ascot Chair from the former Ideal Bread factory building at 183 Dovercourt Road (now known as The Argyle Lofts) to 440 Dufferin. Nyman and a partner had founded Ascot Chair in 1958 in response to growing demand for custom designs.
