OSFM Architecture

The Owen Sound Market Building (the former Municipal Water-works building) is a very refined example of a 19th century “functional” building.   The roots of its design derive from the forms of the utilitarian industrial, manufacturing and storage structures erected in Great Britain during the late Georgian and Victorian Industrial Revolution. Such buildings are characterized by simple massings and the use of conventional materials such as brick, stone, and timber in subtle and infinitely varied ways. They were designed to meet the requirements of the building’s functions as efficiently as possible while simultaneously achieving a novel aesthetic effect. These structures express the spirit of their times: a concentration of energy on commerce and industry in a focused and creative manner. Often the result of design by builders and craftsmen, with little or no involvement by professional architects, these utilitarian buildings display a clear and honest use of materials with a simplicity and neatness of detail. Ornament is often minimal.

The builders of the Owen Sound Market (Water-works) Building adopted the vocabulary of the subtle architectural styles of the mills, docks, factories and warehouses of the British Isles to their local context. The Market Building was constructed as a two-story brick masonry rectangular form covered by a gabled roof. The ridge of the roof is bisected by a transverse gable roof, creating a cross-shaped roof plan. This quite simple form is the setting for a number of significant architectural features.

The Building Facades

The South facade (facing the street) is virtually an axially symmetrical composition, divided into three parts: two side wings bracketing a central bay which is fronted by a gable which terminates the transverse roof. This raised gable is somewhat reminiscent of the typical “Jacobean” style gable of 17th and 18th century Scotland, and is a common feature on industrial buildings in Britain. The two short, flat-topped pinnacles that project on either side of the gable likely had somewhat more elaborate cornices than the simple metal caps now in place. These would have been similar to the cornice which presently follows the gable parapet. The North facade is similar in design. A significant detail in both South and North transverse gable is the large oculus or roundel opening, with a louvered insert. The bricks of the surrounding trim of the roundel are tapered to from the curve of the circular opening. The openings in the South and North facades reinforce the basic symmetry of the composition. There are some subtle variations, however. The door on the lower portion of the East wing of the South facade is not exactly mirrored on the West where it is replaced by a window. The windows are in general rather broad in width in relation to their height. The exception to this form is seen on the lower level of the North facade. Here the windows are very large, almost full story height, arranged in pairs between limestone capped brick pilaisters. With the exception of these latter windows all openings (doors and windows) have segmental brick arches with projected brick keystones and limestone sills. In the central portion of the South facade there is a wide two-leaf door (mostly solid with upper panel window lights) with a glazed transom above. The segmental arch over this door has a very subtle interlock of brick at the arch springing (where the arch meets the door jamb) that keys in the brick masonry and stabilizes the arch thrust at this critical joint. This is an excellent example of the sophistication of “functional” 19th century utilitarian architecture.

Both the East and West gables also have a “Jacobean” form, that is, a gable bracketed by horizontal cornices called “foot-tables”.

The relatively “pure” axial symmetry of the South and North facades is broken by the addition of a smaller, one-story brick addition on the East end of the building and a very narrow stair enclosure of brick on the West. This latter element is clearly a much later addition, as traces of a former gabled one-story wing are visible in the Western wall masonry. This may have been similar in form to the Eastern addition but no clear trace of it is visible except on the wall.

Building Masonry

The Market Building is primarily of brick masonry. The masonry on the South facade is laid in Running Bond which was considered at the time to be a more refined bond pattern. The other three facades and the walls of the Eastern addition are laid in Common Bond, having headers every sixth course. There are two chimneys on the West side of the building and a large apparently truncated chimney on the East. The Western chimneys have complex projected brick cornices, while the Eastern chimney is clearly missing its former cornice, now being capped by a metal closure piece. All three chimneys have inset panels in their shafts.

Building Proportions

The proportions of the Owen Sound Market Building are very subtle and beautiful. The central unit on the South and North facades (with the “Jacobean” gable) is exactly in the ratio of 1: 1.618 or the Golden Section. The presence of this ratio demonstrates the fidelity of the builders, whether deliberate or by convention, to the canons of proportion long established in English and European architecture. The side wings on East and West of these two facades are virtually squares. The sill line of the second floor windows closely approaches the canonic Renaissance ratio of 1: 1.414 or Square-Root Two, within the square of the wing. This is an exact usage of the authoritative proportion established by the great Renaissance architect, Alberti, in the 15th century.

Conclusion

The Owen Sound Market Building is a relatively well-preserved unique demonstration of the “functional” utilitarian tradition in 19th century architecture. It is therfore of very great value as a Heritage structure. It is a local example of a world-wide style, a part of an extended family of industrial, utilitarian buildings that exemplify the creative inventiveness, technical mastery and self-confident exuberance of the Industrial Revolution in Great Britain.

Architectural Description
Owen Sound Market Building

Robert Greenberg
Professor of Architecture (Emeritus)
8 February 2005

(See additional photos in the Market Photo Gallery)

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