Lars, left, and Jason Dressler work on a chandelier in their work space located near Bloor and Lansdowne
Near Bloor and Lansdowne, Sterling Road's severe row of semi-detached houses gives way to a jumble of low brick buildings as the street curves towards Perth Avenue.
Hidden inside a maze of industrial units, twin woodworkers the Brothers Dressler craft custom-built furniture made from salvaged materials: Douglas fir beams from a building torn down at Lansdowne and Dupont, wood from Dufferin Grove, or metal parts from a nearby scrap yard.
"Most people don't even know that there's anybody building stuff in Toronto," says Lars Dressler.
In an IKEA age, when imported furniture is cheap and the cost of land is high, urban woodworkers who make furniture or provide millwork are being squeezed out of workshops in Queen West, Parkdale and along Dupont.
A number of uprooted woodworkers have carved out a space for themselves in the Junction Triangle, one of the last remaining industrial nodes located near the core. Others are looking at the outskirts of the city or even beyond Toronto to Hamilton or St. Catharines.
But being able to work near the downtown has its benefits: it's close to customers, exhibit space and sometimes even salvaged materials.
Joel Robson, who uses a studio that's currently for sale on Dufferin south of Queen, worked his local demolition contacts to rescue planks of rare flamed birch from the Gibson Textile building, which was torn down to make way for the Bohemian Embassy on Queen Street West.
In light of the current whittling-down of studio space in the area, Mr. Robson is curating a show featuring the talents of local woodworkers. Losing Parkdale will run until Feb. 26 at the Ontario Crafts Council on Queen. Aside from collecting furniture, guitars and art installations for the exhibit, Mr. Robson has also gathered the names of about 100 woodworkers that work in the area or have recently left.
" Losing Parkdale isn't a lament. This is really a celebration of the talent," he says.
"[Toronto is a]pretty smart city for design – much more than it was 25 years ago – and I think that drives the interest."
In spite of the lack of workspace, the Dressler brothers believe that there's even been a bump in interest in Toronto talent, thanks to the "buy local" movement. Since they started in 2003, they've hired six employees and regularly hear from other furniture makers.
"We get contacted all the time from people who either want space or want work," says Jason Dressler. "A lot of people are able to do some of the work out of their garage, but to really hone your skills and do it professionally, you do need a proper space."
Their studios need to be large enough to manoeuvre sheets of plywood and house oversized machinery, in addition to having space for sanding areas and spray booths used in the finishing process. Part art and part industry, the workshops are relegated to light industrial zones since they involve manufacturing and heavy machinery.
The Dresslers previously worked out of a shop near Lansdowne and Dupont but their landlord needed extra space for his business and they moved to Sterling Road. Other woodworkers displaced from north of Bloor include the Dupont Woodworking Co-op, a group of seven full- and four part-time woodworkers that specialize in furniture. They relocated from Bathurst and Dupont to the building directly south of where the Dresslers work.
Though they have their own 1,500-square-foot studio, the Dresslers share larger machines such as panel saws, jointers and planers along with about 4,000 sq. ft. of shop floor with four other woodworkers and their employees. Under a "What Would Neil Young Do?" poster, they labour next to other displaced woodworkers such as Connie Chisholm, who previously worked out of the Wood Studio, a co-op on Dufferin north of Queen, and John Jackson, who had shop space in the recently demolished building at 78 Abell St., just east of Dufferin and Queen.
Mr. Jackson says some of his colleagues that decamped for Hamilton have returned because they lacked customers.
"If your clients are all in Rosedale or Forest Hill, it's good to be near them," he says. "They're not going to want to come out to Hamilton to see something in progress."
Scott Eckert, a member of the Wood Studio co-op, is planning to move further afield. Since the building's been sold for condo development, the Wood Studio has about 18 months to find new space. Roughly twenty people use the co-op space and there are up to 25 workshops in the building next door that will also be torn down. They've been checking out properties at Keele and Lawrence, south Etobicoke and Scarborough. "Where you have a dangerous neighbourhood, that's perfect for us," he laughs.
"Downtown Toronto's become this hermetically sealed glass box that doesn't allow for anything but retail. If you want to continue to make things using industrial processes, then you have to go where industrial processes have gone," Mr. Eckert says.
And that might mean abandoning the core altogether. The Dresslers are well aware that they're on unsteady ground in the Junction Triangle: new townhouses were built down the road and plans to develop the Tower Automotive lands, off of Sterling Road, could eventually push them out of the neighbourhood.
"You just have to realize that it is a gamble. You put a lot of effort and a lot of work and a lot of money into a space that might be taken away," says Jason Dressler.
"But you can't think of that or else you won't get anything done."
Special to The Globe and Mail
Editor's Note: Losing Parkdale will run until Feb. 26 at the Ontario Crafts Council on Queen St. W., Toronto. An earlier version of this article, which has been changed, included incorrect information.