Role: Structural engineering
Constructed in 1931, the seven-storey structure was originally Eaton's flagship retail store. The complex included a 4,646m² entertainment space on the seventh floor designed by French Architect Jacques Carlu. Known simply as The Seventh Floor, the space included a concert hall, the Round Room Restaurant and the Grand Foyer. Designed in the Art Moderne style, the level of finishes and furnishings in the Seventh Floor were unsurpassed in Canada at the time of construction. The Seventh Floor remained one of Toronto's prominent social and entertainment venues until it was closed in the late 1970's. Following a two year restoration, the Carlu re-opened in the spring of 2003.
During the project, special attention was paid to restoring the original Seventh Floor finishes, and, as a result, the Carlu is now recognized as one of the finest surviving examples of Art Moderne architecture in the world. The space includes a concert hall with balcony (maximum capacity 1,200 persons) and a fully restored Round Room Restaurant and Grand Foyer.
The base building structure consists of concrete joists supported by steel girders which are, in turn, supported by steel columns and perimeter masonry walls. New structural work related to the Carlu restoration included a floating concrete floor slab in the concert hall to prevent sound attenuation to the sixth floor below, structural steel supports for new lighting trusses above the concert hall stage and new steel framing for a skylight and mechanical service openings through the eighth floor and roof concrete structures.