Commercial & Retail

7 St Thomas integrates a sleek, undulating fritted-glass mid-rise office building designed by Hariri-Pontarini Architects with a block of heritage townhomes. The site inhabits a transitional zone between the retail and corporate fabric of Bloor-Yorkville and the quiet, leafy collegiate campus to the south. ERA was responsible for full Heritage Consultation services, from heritage planning...

“Building 16” at the Brick Works housed several massive kilns built in the 1960s for firing and drying bricks. The kilns were fascinating artifacts, but their sheer size — 600 linear metres occupying three-quarters of the building — made the space impossible to use. From 2010–2013, ERA was involved in dissecting the kilns to reveal...

For this project, sited on King near John St. in Toronto’s entertainment district, David Mirvish and Frank Gehry propose a three-building residential and mixed-use complex including OCAD University’s “Princess of Wales Centre for Visual Arts,” as well as a new public art gallery. The new gallery will make available for the first time David Mirvish’s...

Coliseum Complex is a 410,000 sq ft group of five buildings constructed in 1922 to showcase the Canadian National Exhibition’s Winter Fair. An example of restrained Beaux Arts style design, these buildings feature vast, symmetrical, masonry façades; extensive classical brick detailing; unusual sculptural ornamentation in stone; and hundreds of large, finely framed windows. Having worked...

The Lang Tannery site is an industrial complex that occupies 5.5 acres on two city blocks in the designated warehouse district of the city of Kitchener. It contains approximately fifteen interconnected industrial buildings from one to five storeys in height built between c. 1896 and 1956. The Lang Tannery complex is a significant landmark. It...

This initiative by ERA Architects and the Centre for Urban Growth and Renewal (CUG+R), uses research, design, and planning to help support livable communities undergoing economic and cultural change after the decline of the Northern Cod Fishery. The Culture of Outports team uses historical research, field research, and public consultation to assess the built, natural,...

At the core of Kingston’s historic downtown is the Market Square Heritage Conservation District – an area defined by a fine collection of 19th and 20th buildings encircling the city’s Market Square. The District, originally written by Lily Inglis and Harold Kalman, is one of the earliest commercial heritage conservation districts in Ontario. The District...

The Drake Hotel is a cultural landmark within Toronto’s Art and Design District. In 2001, the original 1890’s building at Beaconsfield and Queen Street West was reinvented into a unique mixed-use hub where sleeping, dining, nightlife, concerts, retail, and art events collide. Continuing on this success, the Drake Hotel is growing to include the storefront...

Five Corners is a development by Concert Properties for the site at Front Street and Church Street, incorporating a 19th century industrial building into a mixed use loft development. Five Corners is a designated heritage property. ERA wrote a Cultural Heritage Adjacency Impact Statement, Heritage Impact Statement, Conservation Plan and assisted in drafting the Heritage...

ERA provided a Heritage Impact Statement and Conservation and Restoration Plan for a high-end 48-storey residential condominium development above the neo-Gothic inspired former McLaughlin Motors Building. Designed by Hutton and Souter Architects and constructed in 1925, the City of Toronto designated the property in December 1999. The building was methodically dismantled stone by stone, removed...

The Gooderham and Worts Historic District is a National Historic Site and former home to the largest distillery in Canada. The complex is a remarkable example of an intact Victorian industrial property. Particular buildings of interest include the Stone Distillery and the Maltings. ERA is the Architect-of-Record for the overall project and Heritage Architect for...

Recognized as a National Historic Site, Maple Leaf Gardens was home to the Toronto Maple Leafs hockey club until 1999 and served as a hub of civic life continuously since it opened in 1931. The arena hosted a wide variety of large-scale public gatherings, from operas to political rallies. It is one the oldest and...