Beard Building

{{Infobox building

| building_name = Beard Building

| image = Lennoxlight.jpg

| caption =

| former_name =

| location = 163 King Street East
Toronto, Ontario, Canada

| coordinates = {{coord|43.650366|-79.371587|region:CA-ON_type:landmark|display=it}}

| demolished_date = 1935

| completion_date = 1893 – 1894

| status = Demolished

| building_type = Commercial offices
Hotel

| architectural_style = Romanesque Revival

| roof = {{convert|25.8|m|abbr=on}}

| floor_count = 7
1 below ground

| elevator_count =

| cost = $60,000

| architect = E. J. Lennox

| engineer =

| main_contractor =

| developer =

| owner =

| management =

| references = {{Cite web |url=https://www.emporis.com/buildings/237788 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160306082633/https://www.emporis.com/buildings/237788 |url-status=usurped |archive-date=March 6, 2016 |title=Emporis building ID 237788 |work=Emporis}}}}

The Beard Building was a seven-storey, {{convert|25.38|m||abbr=on}} Richardsonian Romanesque highrise in Toronto, Ontario, Canada that is considered to be Toronto's first skyscraper. Designed by E. J. Lennox and completed in 1894, initial plans were for a nine-storey, iron-framed structure, but a more traditional wood-brick combination with seven storeys was settled upon.{{Cite web|url=https://www.emporis.com/buildings/237788/the-beard-building-toronto-canada|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160306082633/http://www.emporis.com/buildings/237788/the-beard-building-toronto-canada|url-status=usurped|archive-date=March 6, 2016|title=The Beard Building, Toronto {{!}} 237788 {{!}} EMPORIS|last=GmbH|first=Emporis|website=Emporis|access-date=2018-10-22}}

The Beard Building consisted of a bank at street level, a commercial and office tower, and a hotel. A branch of The Bank of Commerce occupied the building's main space on its ground floor. Above that, the hotel never opened because of the design of the building.{{cite news|last1=Bateman|first1=Chris|title=The short, mysterious life of the Beard Building|url=http://spacing.ca/toronto/2017/06/13/short-mysterious-life-beard-building/|access-date=14 June 2017|work=Spacing|date=13 June 2017}}{{Cite web|url=http://pages.interlog.com/~urbanism/lennox.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070911032150/http://pages.interlog.com/~urbanism/lennox.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=2007-09-11|title=lennox.html|date=2007-09-11|access-date=2018-10-22}} However, the space above the ground floor was leased to businesses as office space. The building was named after George T. Beard, the original landowner of the site.

The Beard Building was demolished in 1935{{cite news|title=Obsolete Buildings are Being Torn Down|date=30 July 1935|work=The Toronto Daily Star|page=7}} and was replaced by a gas station a few years later.