Bata Shoe Factory / Quadrangle Architects + Dubbeldam Architecture + Design

The late Sonja Bata pursued her passion for architecture and the built environment through the revitalization of the town of Batawa, the former factory town located 175 km east of Toronto on the Trent River. In 1939, at the onset of WWII, the Bata family transplanted their shoe empire, including 120 workers and their families, from Czechoslovakia to Canada, establishing a company town that would become a prototype for subsequent Bata operations around the world.