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62 – 64 Charles Street: The Lost Craft of Tuck-pointing Returns

by ERA Architects

...honoured last fall with a 2017 CAHP Award of Excellence —Materials, Craftsmanship and Construction. ERA is continuing to feature this technique prominently through work on the Selby Hotel at 592 Sherbourne, which is set to be completed in the summer. For more information: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zxPc6_2R-Hc Article by Dave LeBlanc in the Globe and Mail: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/real-estate/toronto/the-lost-art-of-tuckpointing-reborn-intoronto/article37802073/ Related content: https://www.eraarch.ca/2017/capitalizing-on-heritage-awarding-conservation-materials-craftsmanship-and-construction/ https://www.eraarch.ca/2017/era-learns-the-fine-art-of-tuckpointing-from-a-melbourne-based-master/ https://www.eraarch.ca/2012/tuckpointing-a-note-on-detail/  ...

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News & Events

The Signs That Define Toronto: A new book from ERA and Spacing 

by Kurt Kraler

...the building to its basic functions of providing air-conditioned space and shelter from the elements.  Interestingly enough, Toronto shares some similarities with Las Vegas in its growth and signage evolution. The opening of the Hoover Dam in 1936 supplied Las Vegas with an abundant supply of cheap electricity, similar to how the Niagara hydroelectric dam had transformed the streets of...

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Proposed Heritage Policies in the ‘Toronto Official Plan’ Review

by admin

...The Official Plan heritage policies are available for review on the City website, at: www.toronto.ca/opreview/pdf/opreview_proposed_heritage_policy.pdf Linked below, we respectfully submit comments on the current proposed policies, and a draft counter-proposal – a goals-based policy document that can significantly improve the delivery of heritage services in the City of Toronto. www.era.on.ca/pdf/ERA_OP_heritage_policy_comments.pdf The key authors of this draft include Michael McClelland (Principal...

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RAC Zoning Approved for 500 Sites

by ERA Architects

...social activity, and community services – amenities that most areas of Toronto take for granted. Surprisingly, these uses within Apartment districts have until now been largely prohibited. This is because the zoning of Apartment areas was conceived in the 1950s when Toronto’s suburbs were thought to function very differently. These areas were planned with a strict separation of uses: Residential,...

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The Legacy Lives On: Hamilton’s Built Heritage Inventory as an emerging practice in historic urban landscape stewardship

by ERA Architects

...they inhabit could, in the future, be used by cities to identify a much broader range of conservation opportunities, better understand an area’s capacity to change and evolve, and reposition historic resources to serve as the springboard and foundation for new development….’ Article in CIP’s PLAN Canada Journal: http://www.kelmanonline.com/httpdocs/files/CIP/plancanadawinter2017/index.html Related content: https://www.eraarch.ca/2017/hamiltons-durand-built-heritage-inventory-project-incorporates-digital-innovation-to-develop-a-citywide-approach-to-heritage-planning/ https://www.eraarch.ca/project/hamilton-downtown-built-heritage-inventory/ https://www.eraarch.ca/2013/9295/ All images courtesy of ERA Architects....

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Thorncliffe Park – Café and Market in the Park

by ERA Architects

...on the uses imagined by TAG, ERA built a robust frame (see diagram), designed to be reconfigured to become a food stall, a library or an outdoor living room, and equipped with integral seating. “The mobile café becomes a living project – designed to be as playful, evolving and experimental as the dynamic group who uses it.” The mobile cafe...

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Michael McClelland at the Getty: Toronto Towers

by ERA Architects

...Stats in Canada.” Accessed January 18th, 2013. http://www.cmhc-schl.gc.ca/en/corp/nero/jufa/jufa_031.cfm English Heritage. 2009. “Government Review of Policies Relating to the Historic Environment.” Accessed January 15, 2013. http://www.britarch.ac.uk/info/ehreview15.html. Faludi, Eugene. 1963. “Report on Apartment Building Development in East Annex Planning District.” Toronto: E. G. Faludi and Associates, Town Planning Consultants Ltd. Ministry of Culture. 2006. “Heritage Property Evaluation.” Accessed January 15, 2013. http://www.mtc.gov.on.ca/en/publications/Heritage_Tool_Kit_HPE_Eng_large.pdf....

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Ken Soble Tower, a white-clad 18-storey tower viewed from a vantage at ground level and looking high up into the sky.
News & Events

Canada’s Ken Soble Tower certified as world’s largest residential Passive House EnerPHit retrofit

by ERA Architects

...PCL Construction Structural and Building Envelope Consultant: Entuitive Mechanical Consultant: Reinbold engineering group Electrical Consultant: Nemetz (S/A) & Associates Ltd. Passive House Consultant: JMV Consulting & Transsolar Third-Party Passive House Certifier: Herz & Lang GmbH Building Envelope Testing: Engineering Link Commissioning Consultant: CFMS Consulting Inc. About Passive House Canada Passive House Canada is a national non-profit professional association advocating for...

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Casey House is Awarded the Lieutenant Governor’s Ontario Heritage Award for Excellence in Conservation

by ERA Architects

...the facility first arose. At its heart, the redevelopment of Casey House was a community-inspired and driven initiative, with stakeholders recognizing the importance of their generous contributions. Congratulations to ERA’s project team: Michael McClelland, Edwin Rowse, Scott Weir, Jessie Grebenc, Joey Giaimo, Luke Denison, and Mikael Sydor. Related links: https://www.eraarch.ca/project/239/ https://www.eraarch.ca/2017/a-hospital-with-heart-that-embraces-its-patients-celebrates-its-grand-reopening/ https://www.eraarch.ca/2017/capitalizing-on-heritage-awarding-conservation-materials-craftsmanship-and-construction/ http://www.heritagetrust.on.ca/en/index.php/media-releases/lieutenant-governors-ontario-heritage-awards-presentation ​Project photos are courtesy of Vik Pahwa....

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an image of leather shoes recovered from the Armoury Street excavation is superimposed on top of a Goad's Insurance Map, detailing the site area and context of Centre Avenue and Armoury Street in historic St John's Ward.

Archaeology in The Ward: A New Exhibit

by ERA Architects

...rotunda, located adjacent to both the east and west elevator bays, and will be on display through spring of 2018. Infrastructure Ontario is creating an online archive of past exhibit displays available at infrastructureontario.ca/armourystreetdig Link to the Toronto Star’s coverage: https://www.thestar.com/news/immigration/2018/01/11/new-exhibit-sheds-light-on-torontos-early-immigrant-entrepreneurship.html Related content: https://www.eraarch.ca/2015/the-ward-a-new-book-coming-2015/ https://www.eraarch.ca/2015/the-ward-a-new-book-update/ https://www.eraarch.ca/2017/coming-up-the-ward-songs-and-sounds-of-a-lost-toronto-neighbourhood/ Post by guest writer Carl Shura. All photos courtesy of ERA Architects and TMHC....

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Interior of University College Library from second floor balcony.
News & Events

University College: Revitalization and Accessibility 

by ERA Architects

...“It’s basically in the building’s DNA to be inaccessible because of the design sensibilities of the time,” says Berg, a project manager with ERA since 2012. “It has meandering circulation paths and this appreciation for light and darkness and shadow. It’s Richardsonian Romanesque with a heavy medieval influence.” Berg says while there was an elevator installed in the ’60s, a...

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A historic laneway coach house

Uncovering the potential of Toronto’s laneways

by ERA Architects

...forms along laneways can also tell us about the history of these spaces and their uses. Coach houses were the primary built form of laneways. They usually had a large service opening, like a garage door, on the laneway side. Historically, coach houses were utilitarian ancillary structures, subordinate but related to a grander principal residence. Simple and defensive, they had...

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