In 1926 his design received the first gold medal awarded by the Ontario Association of Architects,[1] along with recognition in international architectural journals in London and New York.

A new heritage event venue named the Aperture Room opened in April 2015 to bring some of the history back to this part of Yonge Street.

These huge department stores were surrounded by smaller commercial properties, a mix of building styles and materials in various states of repair with awnings and signage jutting out over the busy sidewalk.

These interruptions, combined with the relocation of many Toronto residents from downtown to suburban communities following World War II, meant that Yonge Street businesses saw a decline in customer traffic.

[2] “Taverns became strip clubs, bookstores branched into adult materials, and entrepreneurs opened erotic massage parlours,” giving Yonge Street a seedy reputation amongst Torontonians.

[3] The late 20th century saw the gradual revitalization of the downtown Yonge Street area, led by the opening of major retail spaces and formal organization of local businesses.

The presence of major retailers has consistently drawn shopping, pedestrian, and tourist traffic to the downtown Yonge Street area, making it natural gathering space for celebration, protest, and community-building.

The role of Yonge Street as a major North-South thoroughfare, centre of retail activity, and inclusion in numerous annual parade routes contributed to the push to develop community space, starting in the 1970s.

With the push for the revival of downtown Yonge Street in the early 2000s, live musical performances became a regular occurrence in order to draw people to the area.

Concerts, often sponsored the HMV store at 333 Yonge Street, included Alice Cooper (1991), Green Day (1997), and Red Hot Chili Peppers (1999).

The building at 340 Yonge Street demonstrated a restrained use of Classical architectural elements - the arch, the architrave, the pilaster, and the medallion - in contrast to the “meanness” of the surrounding streetscape, with “its proliferation of false shopfronts... defaced by unregulated billboard and store signage, all hidden behind electrical and streetcar poles and wires.”[10] The Thornton–Smith Building was designed by Irish-born architect John M. Lyle, a leader in the Toronto architecture profession and champion of the neoclassical Beaux-Arts style.

Upon graduation in 1896, he worked for architectural firms Howard & Cauldwell and Carrere & Hastings in New York City In 1905,[11] Lyle returned to Toronto design and build the Royal Alexandra Theatre on King Street.

While the style peaked in America prior to the First World War, many younger Canadian architects championed the use of Beaux-Arts well into the 1920s - Lyle was considered a leader amongst this faction of professionals.

[16] Adamson studied at the Guild of Handicrafts under Charles Robert Ashbee (1863-1942) while living in England from 1902-3, a centre of the British-led Arts and Crafts design movement.

[25] Adamson’s family provided key legal and financial support for the growth of the Thornton–Smith Company, with her husband Agar serving as titular head of the firm.

Named and designed with the building and neighbourhood's history in mind, the space features exposed brick, hardwood floors, plaster ceilings and three large skylights.