Interpretation, Studies & Strategies
Spotlight
Creemore Village Green
In the heart of the Village of Creemore, an underutilized park and adjacent building were transformed into a cultural landmark and vibrant green space. Initiated by a local advocacy group, ERA worked with them to reach their vision by shepherding a public consultation program, including extensive research, community engagement, and preliminary design work. Over two...
480 Yonge Street
The landmark Victorian-era clock tower located on Yonge Street, just north of College Street, has a multi-layered history that links many communities and generations. First built in 1872 as Toronto’s Fire Hall No.3, it was an impressive early punctuation on Yonge Street due to its imposing height and rich architectural detailing. By the 1950s the...
Îlot Bonsecours – PHI Contemporain
Located in the heart of the Old Montreal heritage site, the “Îlot Bonsecours” is a group of four historic buildings, notably the Calvet House and its annex, the Davies Store and the Viger House, which have been combined in recent decades to become the Auberge Pierre du Calvet, among others. In addition to those, there...
The McGill New Vic Project
The former Royal Victoria Hospital (RVH), founded in 1893, was designed by the London architect Henry Saxon Snell in the Scottish neo-baronial style. Located on the slope of Mount Royal, it was intended to be a place of healing close to nature and far from the industrial city, in accordance with the theories of the...
Coronation Park
Coronation Park is a six-hectare, culturally significant park at the foot of the historic Fort York area. The park is a living memorial, with the groves of silver maples commemorating the service and sacrifice of Canada’s military in World War I. At over 70 years old, the original design intent of the park had begun...
Parkwood Estate National Historic Site: Greenhouse Conservation
Oshawa’s Parkwood Estate was erected in 1915 as the home of automotive industrialist Colonel Sam McLaughlin, who had a keen interest in horticulture. Designed by the leading establishment architecture firm Darling & Pearson, the estate included five greenhouses, with additional greenhouses added over time. The estate is now a National Historic Site. After the property...
Regent Park Commemoration Strategy
Regent Park is the largest social housing neighbourhood built in Canada’s history, with a layered history of development through several eras. Since 2005, it has been undergoing extensive revitalization, moving towards a more mixed-use and mixed-income neighbourhood. To celebrate the neighbourhoods history, Toronto Community Housing Corporation commissioned ERA to design a commemoration strategy. The strategy’s...
Macdonald Block
Macdonald Block is a modernist government complex consisting of four office tower buildings connected by a two-storey podium that houses eleven ministries of the provincial government. These buildings are connected by an outdoor courtyard, designed in the 1960s by Sasaki, Strong and Associates, which is recognized as a significant cultural heritage landscape. The buildings dating...
The RAC Zone
Following a process of nearly two years of research, public consultation, policy development, and advocacy in partnership with ERA Architects, the Centre for Urban Growth and Renewal, United Way Toronto & York Region, Toronto Public Health, and the City of Toronto, the Residential Apartment Commercial (RAC) zone was approved by Toronto City Council by-law in 2013 and the Ontario...
Concrete Toronto Map
“Toronto is beginning to redefine itself through its concrete heritage – the fabric of our post-war growth – the architecture of our schools, universities, libraries and mass housing. Many are developing a cult following as a new type of landmark; and some are finding a second life through new investments and restorations. However, most are...
Hamilton Downtown Built Heritage Inventory
The Downtown Built Heritage Inventory (DBHI) is a pilot project that proposes a new, Hamilton-specific methodology to understand, characterize, and map Hamilton’s downtown heritage resources. Inspired by emerging international best practices in heritage planning, this methodology aligns with the Ontario Heritage Act and Planning Act, but also utilizes other strategies for evaluating historic resources, such...
Hoarding Suggestions
In April 2013, the Gladstone Hotel held the first annual Grow Op: Exploring landscape and place, an event curated by landscape architect Victoria Taylor, OALA. Representing the Friends of Allan Gardens, a team from ERA Architects contributed an installation called “Hoarding Suggestions.” The exhibit used materials from the City of Toronto Archives to raise visitors’...
Picton Main Street HCD Study and Plan
Unlike many small Ontario towns, Picton maintains a compact townscape with discreet edges surrounded by countryside. Historically, settlement was centred around Picton Harbour, with waterways serving as a connection point to industry, agriculture, and transportation routes between Kingston and Toronto. While development has naturally been shaped by the local topography of hills, valleys, and shorelines,...
Kingston Culture Plan
In 2009 the City of Kingston engaged a consultant team to undertake the Kingston Community Cultural Policy Plan as part of the recognition that culture and creativity are major drivers of the local economy. The aim of the study was to articulate a sustainable and long-term vision for cultural vitality in Kingston, and to identify...
