Bata Shoe Factory in Batawa, Ontario Mixed-Use Development, Canadian Architecture Images
Bata Shoe Factory in Batawa, Ontario
3 Dec 2020
Former Bata Shoe Factory
Architects: Dubbeldam Architecture + Design and Quadrangle
Location: Batawa, ON, Canada

The late Sonja Bata pursued her passion for architecture and the built environment through the revitalization of the town of Batawa, located 175 km east of Toronto on the Trent river. As a sustainable community and satellite town adapted to 21st century living, where residents could live close to nature but maintain a connection to work through high-speed broadband, she envisioned Batawa as a model community for social and environmental sustainability.

Central to Bata?s vision for the town was the conversion of the manufacturing facility built by her family?s shoe empire, who relocated to Canada at the beginning of World War II. Located at the gateway to the town, the conversion of the former Bata Shoe Factory into a mixed-use residential, commercial and community building, designed by Quadrangle (Architect of Record) and Dubbeldam Architecture + Design (Collaborating Design Architect), is an ambitious adaptive re-use project with a light environmental footprint and a strong social mandate.
In its heyday, the shoe factory employed close to 1,900 people and supported the entire community, which included two schools, two churches and sports facilities. It was the force that bound and oriented Batawa. That same philosophy was ta...