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The material library

by ERA Architects

...heritage work, obsolete materials are still useful even if we can no longer use them. A lot of what we hold onto, then, are the termite-eaten timbers, crumbled stones, and elaborate hand-carved ornaments from bygone years. These allow us to study the materials of the past and make more informed decisions about current restoration, refurbishment, and new design possibilities. Interested...

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ACO NextGen Charrette on Mill St.

by Shannon Clayton

...thinc design. The winning team demonstrated a comprehensive approach that utilized the various skillsets of the team members. The open space incorporated a pedestrian path along the historic rail line to connect to surrounding pedestrian and park networks. The scheme also involved the adaptive reuse of the existing heritage building to a market and exhibition space at grade, with artist...

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ERA Presents at TCLF Second Wave of Modernism III: Leading with Landscape

by ERA Architects

...the conference was divided into relevant topics and themes, including: Making and managing Toronto’s 21st century landscape A history of coupled human and natural systems Toronto’s emerging urban public realm Current work in Toronto Exporting Innovation and failure Jennifer Keesmat & Paul Bedford in conversation. Image Credit: Nina-Marie Lister Opening remarks by ERA principal Michael McClelland, Janet Rosenberg of Janet...

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Government Conference Centre: Progress on Heritage Interiors

by ERA Architects

...part of the formal processional route bringing visitors through the building to some of its grandest interiors. As a visitor enters through the Rideau Entrance Lobby, down the grand stair, they find themselves here: viewing the building’s Beaux-Arts features evident in its monumental use of classical forms such as the columns, entablatures, pilasters, arches and vaults. The GCC Rehabilitation Project...

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The Broadview Hotel is Awarded the Lieutenant Governorโ€™s Ontario Heritage Award for Excellence in Conservation

by ERA Architects

...maintain key architectural features of the 125-year-old landmark: rounded-arch and squared-head windows, decorative terra cotta panels, prominent turret with a pyramidal roof, wide arches and rusticated stonework on the ground floor. The development of the structure included an addition to increase its capacity. Its use as a hotel will return, with 58 guestrooms, a restaurant and cafe added to the...

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Baist’s Detroit

by ERA Architects

Like Goad’s Fire Insurance Maps in Toronto, the Baist Real Estate Atlases were produced for insurance underwriters who used them to evaluate a site’s degree of risk and establish premiums. These maps were adopted by city planners and local developers to understand the city, as they showed an accurate demarcation of buildings with materials, use, street address (and changes) and...

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ERA to Revitalize Historic Yonge Street Landmark

by admin

The former Canadian Bank of Commerce building at 197 Yonge Street, since abandoned for 25 years, is set to become the focus of a major redevelopment effort led by MOD Developments in collaboration with ERA. Redevelopment will see the restoration and integration of the existing stone edifice at the foot of a new mixed-use tower designed by Hariri Pontarini Architects....

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Governor General Awards, 2014

by ERA Architects

...in the process.” Joseph L. Rotman School of Management, lead architect KPMB. Jury comment: “Large glass volumes are anchored to an existing Victorian house and seem to float behind it.… [These] light volumes against the stately mansion…make a convincing use of contrasts.” Congratulations to Shim-Sutcliffe, RDH, KPMB, and all the winning offices. Please see the media release at Architecture Canada....

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Micallef: Canadaโ€™s identity, modernist architecture

by ERA Architects

If there is a character that unites Canada across its many regions, says Shawn Micallef of Spacing, it could well be our huge stock of post-war modernist architecture. From well-known innovations such as Montreal’s Habitat ’67, Toronto’s CN Tower, or Burnaby’s Simon Fraser University; to the thousands of lower-profile urban and suburban low-, mid-, and high-rise buildings that serve as...

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Tuckpointing: a note on detail

by ERA Architects

This month we are posting on a few masonry-related topics in honour of an upcoming visit by our friend Gerard Lynch, who is leading heritage masonry workshops at Evergreen Brickworks, from October 23 to 31. Today’s post is on an ingenious but little-known art called tuckpointing. The term tuckpointing is often used today as a synonym for repointing, the replacement...

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