Ideas & Issues

Uncovering Toronto’s Lost Black Churches

ERA's Interpreting Slavery, Trauma, and Heritage Initiative research project

by ERA Architects , February 24, 2025

The Uncovering Toronto’s Lost Black Churches research project is a collaboration between ERA’s Interpreting Slavery, Trauma, and Heritage (ISTH) Initiative, led by Michael Otchie and Zeina Ahmed, and Camilla Minh Hoang.

Accessibility and heritage symbiosis: Q&A with architects Michael McClelland, Daniel Lewis, and Diana Roldan 

by Alessandro Tersigni , May 30, 2024

As a culmination of National Accessibility Week, ERA’s Alessandro Tersigni sat down with three of the firm’s architects specializing in accessible interventions in the built environment.   ERA principal Michael McClelland and architects Daniel Lewis and Diana Roldan discuss the different and changing meanings of “accessible”, the diversity of paths to achieving it, and the natural...

Storefronts and urban evolution: Q&A with Shannon Clayton 

by Alessandro Tersigni , February 29, 2024

This week ERA is exploring the history and design of storefront architecture. To understand the origins, evolution, and future of this iconic feature of commercial buildings, ERA writer-researcher Alessandro Tersigni sat down with Shannon Clayton, the firm’s resident storefront expert.   Shannon has worked on many conservation projects involving the design of new storefronts for commercial...

The Brig: A Reflection on Heritage Week 

by Michael McClelland , February 20, 2024

This Heritage Week, I’d like to remember the Brigadier, or the Brig, as he was known, for the lessons he taught me.    Brigadier General John McGinnis was a larger-than-life figure. He was among the troops that liberated the Netherlands during the Second World War, and then after retirement he began a second career in the then...

Three lessons from Europe’s independent cultural spaces

by Private: Daniel Rotsztain , April 17, 2023

In the summer of 2022, ERA was invited to join a tour with member organizations of Trans Europe Halles (TEH), a network of 135 cultural organizations from 39 countries in Europe and beyond. TEH members collectively support, research, and advocate for independent cultural spaces and their positive contribution to social, environmental, and economic well-being.   TEH...

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

by Kurt Kraler , November 15, 2022

We are happy to announce the release of The Signs That Define Toronto. Published and produced with Spacing, ERA partner Philip Evans and architect Kurt Kraler team up with Spacing’s Matthew Blackett and 20 contributors to reveal the history, culture, and stories of the city through its unique signage. The book is packed full of...

Diving Into the ERA Library—Part 1 

by ERA Architects , June 28, 2022

Having access to unique and highly specific books about neighbourhoods, cities, and architecture is a vital aspect of the culture of ERA. Periodically, we will pull books off the shelves of ERA’s library to reveal some of the charming and forgotten publications that shed light on local history.   Truth & Reconciliation: Calls to Action ...

Dressing The Webster

by ERA Architects , June 9, 2022

If you look closely enough, you’ll notice that every neighbourhood has its own unique colour palette, which helps define its character. Some are strictly uniform and monochromatic, while others are a wildly chaotic patchwork of distinct colours. Many of these shades and swatches stem from the materials used in a neighbourhood’s construction throughout the years....

ERA leads the conversation of digital transformation at the Beijing Urban and Architecture Biennale

by ERA Architects , November 25, 2021

Building Information Modeling or Building Information Management (BIM) is the foundation of digital transformation in the Architecture, Engineering, and Construction industry (AEC). It is a highly collaborative process that allows architects, engineers, developers, contractors, manufacturers, and other construction professionals to plan, design, and construct a structure or building within one single 3D model. It can...

Championing resiliency this Earth Day

by ERA Architects , April 22, 2021

As we celebrate Earth Day, ERA is reflecting on the shift needed to meet Canada’s 2050 net-zero emissions targets. Our built environment plays an important role in creating a more sustainable future and ERA is committed to being a leader that champions climate solutions through our work. Here’s how: Adaptive reuse of changing infrastructures: High-impact...

Historic farmsteads drive a new rural cultural economy

by ERA Architects , October 28, 2020

Ontario’s smaller municipalities are facing a transformation. Many are making the transition from resource-based to diverse, creative economies, fuelled by population growth and an increase in local tourism in Ontario. As these municipalities look to prepare for growth, many farmstead owners are left with swaths of land ripe for adaptive reuse to add to the...

ERA and Heritage Conservation in Hong Kong

by ERA Architects , August 19, 2020

Conservation is a worldwide industry, one rooted in collaboration and shared learning. It’s vital we continue to share our expertise with one another, learning new innovations, techniques and approaches.   ERA is thrilled to continue to be involved in these important conversations. The newly released Heritage Conservation in Hong Kong: A Technical Guidebook was developed...

ERA talks retrofitting towers (virtually)

by ERA Architects , June 30, 2020

Over the past few weeks, Graeme Stewart and Ya’el Santopinto have had the opportunity to participate in webinars to share more about ERA’s tower renewal projects. A large focus of these talks have been about our learnings surrounding the retrofitting of the Ken Soble Tower in Hamilton, which is slated to be one of the...

Accessibility & Heritage Conservation

by ERA Architects , March 19, 2019

How do we integrate universal accessibility with heritage conservation principles? ERA explored this topic in a two-day workshop at the Willowbank School in Niagara. ERA Associates Daniel Lewis and Douglas de Gannes worked with the second-year students to develop feasibility reports for two sites: The Laura Secord School and the Battle Ground Hotel Museum. The...

Tower Renewal Solutions on CBC Radio

by ERA Architects , January 25, 2019

As aging apartment buildings begin to contribute to the housing crisis, (exposed this week in the infrastructure failure at 260 Wellesley, Toronto) the clear response is system-scale reinvestment — and it’s underway right now across Canada. Of particular note, the Ken Soble Tower Project is one of the most significant and precedent-setting tower retrofit projects...

Immigration and Daily Life in the Ward

by ERA Architects , December 17, 2018

We are very excited to announce the latest installation of the ‘Armoury Street Dig’ series of exhibits at Toronto City Hall. Commemorating and interpreting the histories of St John’s Ward, one of Toronto’s first points of settlement for many newcomers throughout the 19th and 20th centuries, the exhibit “Immigration and Daily Life in the Ward: Addresses...

ERA at Passive House Canada Conference

by ERA Architects , November 6, 2018

Last week, ERA’s Graeme Stewart and Ya’el Santopinto joined City Housing Hamilton CEO Tom Hunter to present on the Ken Soble Tower Transformation at Passive House Canada’s National Conference in Vancouver.  The Ken Soble Tower Transformation project kicks off a groundbreaking program by CityHousing Hamilton to use the ultra-low energy Passive House standard for the...

Toronto Set in Stone

by ERA Architects , September 21, 2018

A guest article by Brendan Stewart—Assistant Professor, Landscape Architecture, University of Guelph Stone plays an outsized role in defining many of Toronto’s most beloved and well-used public spaces. Of course there is something singularly enchanting about the material itself, but as important is how it is arranged and put together — the artistry and craft...

From Past to Page: Uncovering the Ward

by ERA Architects , September 20, 2018

In 2015, ‘The Ward—The Life and Loss of Toronto’s First Immigrant Neighbourhood’ was published, documenting the area within Toronto known as St. John’s Ward (or simply “the Ward”), home to thousands of immigrants between the mid-1800s and the mid-1900s. With little of the neighbourhood’s physical fabric remaining, The Ward had largely faded from public consciousness,...

TALLINN–TORONTO: The Influence of Estonian Modernism in Shaping Toronto

by ERA Architects , August 11, 2018

This spring, the exhibition To The New World: Estonian Architects in Toronto launched at the Museum of Estonian Architecture (http://www.arhitektuurimuuseum.ee/en/). Following a smaller exhibition and symposium last fall hosted by Toronto’s Tartu College, the show explores the strong Estonian link in the creation of Toronto’s particular branch of modernism. These exhibitions, and forthcoming book, are...

ERA & CaGBC: Sustainable Development

by ERA Architects , May 16, 2018

Late last month, on Thursday April 26th, the Toronto Chapter of the Canadian Green Building Council met for their annual Spring Open event. Hosted at the newly opened EY Tower downtown, the event included a series of rapid and informative presentations known as the event’s “Building Blitz” —highlighting the newest and most sustainable buildings in...

In-House Experts: Barrier-Free Design and Heritage Buildings

by ERA Architects , January 25, 2018

At ERA we thrive on finding new uses for existing buildings and integrating the heritage fabric of our city into contemporary designs. One of the ways we approach conservation of existing fabric is through modifications to buildings and cultural landscapes that enable all users to enjoy our shared heritage. Many heritage structures are not barrier-free...

When Crazy Gets Creative

by ERA Architects , January 22, 2018

Crazy Dames Share their Innovative Approach to Community Engagement and Design Development Inspired by the work of Jane Jacobs and a desire to use the artist’s studio as a site for fostering creative engagement, Jennie Suddick, and Sara Udow founded Crazy Dames. Their focus is on enhancing the user experience of urban spaces, empowering communities...

Nothing is Impossible: NXT City defines its strategies for city-building through an inspirational presentation at ERA

by ERA Architects , January 8, 2018

On December 13th, NXT City visited ERA to engage staff as part of our Wednesday Morning Forum ‘Spark Sessions’, a series of talks presented at ERA’s office by people and organizations who are at the forefront of their respective practices, and pushing the boundaries of design, policy and development in our city. NXT City is...

ACO NextGen presents the possibility of a new take on an historic building

by ERA Architects , November 13, 2017

How does one breathe new life into a building that was once grand but has since ‘lost its lustre’? The Architectural Conservancy of Ontario NextGen designers have put out a public call for ideas that will transform Toronto’s landmark bus terminal on Bay Street, culminating in an all-day on-site event on Saturday, November 11th. The...