For 35 years, ERA Architects has been a strategic thought leader in understanding the ever-evolving phenomenon of heritage. As the firm evolves, so does our approach to working with heritage.
Our interdisciplinary talents, insights, and relationships to the existing built environment lead us to understand places as living through time. As people, communities, values, and societies change, it’s essential to form new avenues and ways of interpreting the places they experience and value. Through our diverse perspectives, expertise, and passions, it’s equally important to remain constant in our stewardship of the relationships between people and their environments.
To showcase how ERA’s studios approach this work in different yet complementary ways, this series of conversations between culture critic Alessandro Tersigni and the firm’s principals will showcase where we’ve been, where we’re headed, and how this array of practices both enriches and productively complicates our approach to understanding and working with heritage in the 21st century.
Alessandro Tersigni: What’s your role at ERA?
Jan Kubanek: I’m an architect and principal at the firm, and I lead ERA’s two remote offices in Montreal and Ottawa. My interest has always been in conserving architecture by highlighting what makes existing places interesting and, more importantly, relevant for people today. Throughout my years in this field, I’ve increasingly enjoyed working on the early phases of projects during which we explore these questions.
AT: What kind of work does your studio do?
JK: Our team is quite diverse — we have architects, conservation architects, technical experts, historians, and researchers, as well as a powerhouse of heritage planners. We work on lots of public institutional buildings, both in Quebec and in other parts of Canada; we’ve also been exploring more private projects in recent years.
AT: How would you describe what ERA does?
JK: ERA isn’t a typical architecture firm. Collaboration is at the core of everything we do — we’re used to working closely with other architects and consultants to deliver our projects. We also take a more interdisciplinary approach than most, often getting involved in areas of a project that go well beyond standard architectural practice. Before any design work begins, we typically lead research, analysis, and project approach studies, which help set the tone and high-level objectives for the project.
Culturally, ERA stands apart, too. A central focus of our work is understanding why a building, place, or landscape has value. We look at all the forces that led to its creation and evolution over time. Then we approach our projects in a way that clearly articulates the relevance of those things as perceived by a contemporary user group and the local community. We strive to deliver projects that are transformative.
AT: Is working with concepts of heritage different in Quebec than it is in Ontario?
JK: Quebec generally has older building stock than in Ontario, having been settled by European colonists much earlier than southern Ontario. The building typologies and construction methods are also different, influenced first by the French tradition, followed by that of the United Kingdom, resulting in a fascinating blend. Like in Ontario, here in Quebec, there is a strong sense of pride in cultural heritage and a commitment to preserving existing buildings and places. However, both provinces continue to experience losses. In Quebec, there is an unfortunate legacy of vacant buildings and numerous challenges in finding new users and adapting them for contemporary needs. These difficulties are often exacerbated by today’s stringent building codes, which did not exist when many of these structures were first built. As a society, we must find better solutions to address these issues, and as a firm, we are committed to developing creative and accessible approaches to adaptive reuse, ensuring that these valuable structures continue to serve future generations.
AT: What’s an example of a current project that you’re excited about?
JK: Working on the transformation of the former Royal Victoria Hospital for McGill University since 2019 has been incredible. The Royal Vic is such an important and iconic institution in Montreal, visible on the skyline against the backdrop of Mount Royal. Many people were born there or spent time there as patients, and have a relationship with it as a place. Everyone knows the Royal Vic. But what started as a place for healing and wellbeing, surrounded by the natural setting of the mountain, became a very unwelcoming and hard place over the years. Which is why this project is so great — the oldest part of the hospital, built in the early 1890s, is currently being converted to house McGill’s public policy and sustainability faculties. The construction site is going full steam right now, so it’s really worth having a look. Ève Wertheimer and I even had the chance to go to Edinburgh to visit the Royal Infirmary, the Royal Victoria Hospital’s twin, which was fantastic.
AT: What do you see in ERA’s future?
JK: ERA has always tried to respond to the changing aspirations of our communities and societies in local, provincial, and national contexts. That often requires being forward-looking and challenging conventional thinking. We advocate for rigorous and critical approaches to our work that are deeply concerned with public good. All of our projects should benefit the public. That will certainly remain at the core of our ethos as we continue to grow and evolve.
