Building Conservation
Spotlight
2 Queen Street West
2 Queen Street West has served shoppers on the corner of Yonge and Queen since its construction in 1895. Designed in the Renaissance Revival style in a rare partnership between Samuel Curry and Francis S. Baker, the building first opened as the P. Jamieson Clothier Outfitter. It was eventually surrounded by the rise of the...
The University of Toronto’s FitzGerald Building
The University of Toronto’s FitzGerald Building is a 1927 Georgian Revival-style heritage building situated on the south end of St. George Campus. Originally built as a state-of-the-art facility for the Faculty of Medicine and the newly created Connaught Laboratories, the uses have subsequently moved to other locations. ERA was engaged as the heritage architect for...
Convocation Hall
Designed by the Toronto firm of Darling & Pearson, the University of Toronto’s Convocation Hall opened in 1907 and has since become a city landmark and one of the architects’ most beloved achievements. The property is listed on the City of Toronto’s inventory of heritage properties. In addition to hosting graduation ceremonies, the large circular...
Parkwood Estate National Historic Site
Parkwood National Historic Site was built in 1916 as the home of the late R. S. McLaughlin, founder of General Motors Canada. The building, designed by architects Darling and Pearson, now serves as a historic house museum, with a collection that includes original furniture, paintings, and tapestries. ERA was retained to provide professional conservation services,...
The Carlu
The former Eaton’s College Street contains one of Canada’s finest Art Moderne interiors, the Carlu. The building was commissioned by Sir John Craig Eaton to be the flagship for Eaton’s department store and designed by internationally renowned Jacques Carlu. Opened in 1931, the Carlu was an architecturally sophisticated complex home to refined social and cultural...
Tip Top Tailor Condominiums
The Tip Top Tailor building was constructed in 1929 to the designs of architect Roy M. Bishop. The former garment factory is a fine industrial example of the Art Deco Style in painted white concrete with cast architectural ornament and brightly coloured glazed tile bands. A designated heritage property, ERA was contracted to assess the...
Bloor Gladstone Library
The Chapman & McGiffin-designed public library, formerly known as the Dovercourt Branch, was opened in 1913 and renamed the Bloor and Gladstone Public Library in 1938. It was intended to serve a community at Bloor Street and Dovercourt Road and was the first Toronto Public Library branch to be entirely financed by the City of...
Casey House
Commissioned in 1875 by clothing manufacturer William R. Johnston, and designed by prominent local architectural firm Langley, Langley & Burke, the former residence at 571 Jarvis is a significant visual reminder of the affluence and grandeur of Jarvis Street during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Both the exterior and interior of the historic...
Eglinton St. George’s United Church
St. George’s United Church was designed by architects Langley and Howland and built in 1924. An addition was built in 1932 designed by J. Francis Brown and Son. The Church has a fine collection of more than 25 stained glass windows completed at different periods. When the church was built, the stained glass windows were...
Crangle’s Collision
Crangle’s Collision (the former International Harvesters’ Building) has been an Art Moderne accent at the corner of Bathurst and Wellington since its construction in 1940. This two-storey commercial building, designed by architect Neil A. Armstrong, served as headquarters for the American producer of agricultural equipment, and more recently as an auto body shop. A listed...
Little Trinity Church
Dating from 1843, Little Trinity is one of the oldest surviving brick churches in Toronto. This polychrome Gothic Revival church was badly damaged by fire in 1961. At that time, the brickwork was cleaned by sandblasting removing its protective kiln face and leaving the bricks vulnerable to frost and water damage. A listed heritage property,...
Union Station
Union Station is recognized under the Railway Stations Protection Act as a nationally significant heritage building and is selected by the City of Toronto as a designated heritage property. ERA prepared a Heritage Master Plan for Union Station, which identified conservation issues, provided cost estimates for heritage work, and recommended a strategic plan for implementation....
51 Division – Police Headquarters
Consumers Gas Station A, designed by Bond & Smith and completed in 1898, has been integrated into a new design by Stantec Architecture for Toronto Police Services 51 Division headquarters. The heritage building is a tall, arcaded shed, gable ended, with a long extruded roof form, refined Classical composition, decorative masonry, and numerous windows. The...
The ArQuives (Formerly The Canadian Lesbian & Gay Archives)
The ArQuives acquired the Jared Sessions House from the Toronto Children’s Aid Society to be renovated for use as their permanent headquarters. The house was built in 1859-60, and is listed on the City of Toronto’s inventory of heritage properties. ERA’s work included accessibility upgrades, including a new exterior ramp and new operable doors throughout...
