When a building’s historical integrity is at stake, fixture fabrication can require ingenuity. Take, for instance, the need to keep walls perfectly intact. Perimeter shelving that doesn’t attach to the walls was among the idiosyncrasies dictated by the restoration of the Beaux-Arts edifice, a former train station now housing Canada’s largest liquor store. In addition to the painstaking restoration, the 12-month-long project expanded and renovated the Liquor Control Board of Ontario’s (LCBO) selling area in this Summerhill, North Toronto, store.

Featuring Tyndall limestone exterior and marble interior walls, inlaid floors, and ornate ceilings and trim, the building in its first incarnation served as a Canadian Pacific Railway station from 1916 to 1930. LCBO has rented it since 1940. Throughout the years, the splendor of the bygone era had been lost behind a sterile, industrial setting emphasizing control of the “controlled substances.” Realizing in 1998 that it wasn’t the only liquor game in town, LCBO began improving the look of its stores, using four store formats. A flagship store, Summerhill underwent a metamorphosis to restore its original charm and create an appealing ambiance for customers. Out came the drywall and false acoustical ceiling.

“They hired some of the best architects and designers in Toronto. Even the fixtures were designed by Fiorino,” says Karl Englisch, technical consultant of Vic Store Fixtures. Vic manufactured many of the fixtures, including the steel shelving, some of which had millwork or wood trim by another company placed onto it. “Everything was unique and had never been tried before, so it was almost a joint effort” between all the parties involved, Englisch adds.

For the aforementioned perimeter shelving, with the usual technique of tying it back to the wall forbidden due to the ban on holes in the wall, the shelving had to be self-supporting. And the nature of the merchandise required the shelving to accommodate close to 2,500 lb. per 4-ft. section. Furthermore, to achieve the open-back look envisioned by the designers to show off the marble walls, the bracket profile needed to be kept to a minimum.

“We had to rethink the strength properties of the shelving sections and what materials to combine to achieve the objectives. We kept the general dimensions the same, but used a high-grade, high-strength steel and redesigned some structural parts, such as adding special crossmembers to connect the posts,” Englisch says.

With the three-story-high ceiling in the great hall precluding the use of track lighting, the 10-ft., 10-in. tapered fixtures are self-illuminating. The integrated cantilevered header frames incorporate recessed adjustable low-voltage lighting. Unique powdercoating finishes were used.

For island gondolas, Vic mounted 1-in. clear acrylic panels, sand-blasted for a frosted appearance, as back panels, installing lighting fixtures behind the back panels to illuminate bottles from behind, Englisch explains.

This highlighting of the merchandise is a far cry from LCBO stores of the 1970s, when only a list of brands and their serial numbers were on display. Designers reinstated the romance of the depot’s heyday by retaining the original five brass ticket wickets, restoring the trim and skylights in the great hall, using track number signage, and restoring the 145-ft.-high, copper-capped landmark clock tower, a copy of the Campanile in St. Mark’s Square, Venice.

Due to the nature of the restoration and factors such as budgetary needs, the design underwent several changes, but the extra effort and long hours paid off with a project to be proud of, Englisch says. The store was awarded a NASFM Retail Design Outstanding Merit and a Store Fixture Award as well as several other accolades.

For LCBO, the high-profile store now attracts a high traffic volume and, with more than $19 million in annual sales, has highest sales revenues among the 600 LCBO stores.