Heritage & Cultural Planning

The town of Halton Hills is a layered landscape of small and large urban settlements and crossroads communities, rural agricultural landscapes, river valleys and hills, with the Niagara Escarpment running through its northwestern corner. Nestled between the urban municipalities of Milton to the south and Brampton to the east, Halton Hills is a town on...

The Government of Yukon manages a roster of Heritage Reserves throughout the Yukon territory, a set of administrative reserves created by the territorial government over four decades to provide for a range of heritage identification and conservation activities. Most sites were first identified because they included historic resources associated with colonial themes in Yukon’s history,...

In 2010, ERA was retained by ARK Inc. as Heritage Consultant for the adaptive reuse and integration of the Thomas Wilson House (1889–1890) into a modern-day facility for mental health and wellness. The conservation approach included the retention and restoration of the original portion of the Thomas Wilson House, and the removal and replacement of...

This early 20th century Eden Smith designed residence in Wychwood Park had seen many alterations, additions, and conversion to apartments when the new owners purchased it and asked ERA to consult on an authentic restoration. Sited within the Wychwood Park Heritage Conservation District, but also facing a municipal street (Alcina Ave), both the park and...

In a collaborative effort, ERA Architects and GEC Architecture successfully undertook the large-scale redevelopment of the historic Dentistry Pharmacy Building at the University of Alberta. The project aimed to create new teaching, academic, and administrative spaces while preserving the building’s cherished historic features and enhancing its sustainability and energy efficiency. The Dentistry Pharmacy Building held...

Underneath layers of siding, on what appeared as a forgotten agricultural outbuilding, hid a 150-year-old log cabin. ERA was hired to assess the viability of restoring the existing structure and reimagine it into a private artist studio hideaway nestled into a rustic landscape estate. To better understand the heritage of the site and the structure...

Sunnybrook evolved from its origin in 1948 as Sunnybrook Military Hospital into an internationally recognized health sciences centre and home to Canada’s largest veterans’ care facility. Originally designed as a gateway monument framing the entrance to Sunnybrook Military Hospital, the Sunnybrook Cenotaph today is a fixture in the hospital’s identity for passersby on Bayview Avenue...

Relic Linear Park is a community-led vision developed by The Grange Community Association in partnership with the City of Toronto and Campbell House Museum. Guided by the Grange Green Plan and the Relic Park Prospectus, the Relic Linear Park System is an innovative public realm enhancement project in the Grange Park neighbourhood that upgrades existing...

Centretown is an urban neighbourhood south of Ottawa’s historic core and Parliament Hill. Its layered urban forms reflect several major eras of Ottawa’s urban development and serve a diverse residential base.  In 2018, ERA was retained by the City of Ottawa to lead the Centretown Heritage Inventory project. This comprehensive inventory, finalized in 2020, documented...

Protected since 1935, Île-d’Orléans is one of the 13 declared heritage sites, the highest heritage status given by the Quebec government in recognition of its importance as a cultural landscape, its insular character and 400 years of agricultural activity, and as a place of great symbolic value and identity. Under the revised Cultural Heritage Act,...

An architectural significant example of 19th-century farmhouses in Montreal, the Bleau residence was erected on the footprint of an older house. It was home to several generations of the Bleau family, who shaped the house and its surroundings to meet their needs over the years. In addition to farming, the family also operated a ferry...

The agricultural estate Bois-de-la-Roche is a site of exceptional heritage value, with parts of its landscape and architectural elements  recognized by municipal, provincial, and federal authorities. When senator and businessman Louis-Jospeh Forget established his estate between 1886 and 1908, the site already had several structures built on it. He added new buildings, some conceptualized by...