News & Events

Our Evolving Leadership Team

by ERA Architects

Congratulations to our new Associates! ERA Architects is proud to announce the designation of two staff members to the position of Associate. Julie Tyndorf and Jessie Grebenc have both demonstrated commitment to our core values of heritage conservation, city building engagement, and democratic community design. We thank them for their continued efforts and welcome them...

The Honest Ed’s Project: A Contemporary Intangible Heritage Project – Guest Blog by Jay Pitter

by ERA Architects

My interest in the redevelopment of Honest Ed’s and the surrounding neighbourhood is informed by my work in placemaking and stakeholder engagement — and also childhood memories. Prior to becoming a senior healthcare professional, my single mom worked at a series of low-income jobs. She moved in and out of our tiny apartment like a...

Growing Pains: An Evergreen Cityworks and The Globe and Mail Documentary on Urban Growth

by ERA Architects

‘As our population continues to grow, how will the region accommodate both present and future needs?’ This is the question that Growing Pains asks after summarizing how urban growth in the greater horseshoe evolved over the past half century and in light of the prospect of another two million residents arriving in the region over...

“Kensington Market as Cultural Landscape” — A Jane’s Walk

by ERA Architects

During the Heritage and Democracy workshop, ICOMOS Canada will be sponsoring a series of specially curated Jane’s Walks. As part of the National Conversation on Cultural Landscapes (NCCL), an initiative of ICOMOS Canada, one of the walks will explore “Kensington Market as Cultural Landscape.” On Friday, May 6th, the walk will take you on an exploration...

Heritage and Democracy Workshop: Registration Now Open!

by ERA Architects

Friday May 6 2016, 9am-5pm Heritage and Democracy: Bringing Heritage out of History and into the City $12 STUDENTS $15 MEMBERS $20 GENERAL All Jane’s Walks are free and open to the public Heritage and Democracy: Bringing Heritage out of History and into the City is a one-day workshop presented by ICOMOS Canada – the...

Flashback Friday: A Jane’s Walk Down Memory Lane

by ERA Architects

ERA loves the Jane’s Walk festival. Not only do the walks encourage citizens to share stories, explore communities, and connect with neighbours, they also provide platforms for discussing important urban, suburban, and rural issues that affect communities across the world. The Jane’s Walk festival is a global event that is celebrated in over 200 cities,...

Toronto the Good: A Jane’s Walk Launch Party

by ERA Architects

For our annual Toronto the Good Party, we are supporting the 2016 Launch of Jane’s Walk! This year marks the 10th anniversary of Jane’s Walk, a movement of free, citizen-led walking tours inspired by the ideals of the late civic activist and prolific writer Jane Jacobs. These walks encourage citizens to share stories, explore their...

The Final Ridgeway Community Courts Workshop

by ERA Architects

On Wednesday, April 6th, the Erin Mills youth, the MLSE Foundation, the City of Mississauga, and ERA congregated for the last time to discuss final design details for the Ridgeway Community Court. Wings and pizza awaited the group as everyone gathered around for the final workshop. Delicious pizza and wings! The agenda for the evening...

“The Preservers”

by ERA Architects

In their Winter 2016 issue, On The Up magazine, which focuses on urbanism, travel, and culture, Scott Weir, a Principal at ERA, was featured alongside Sherry Phillips and Sarah van Maaren in their article titled “The Preservers.” The article, written by Sarah Steinberg, begins introducing its subject matter – a look into the work of...

Heroic Has Arrived

by ERA Architects

It’s here! The much-anticipated book Heroic: Concrete Architecture and the New Boston, which focuses on Boston’s emerging concrete buildings of the 1960s and 1970s, is now available for sale. ERA had previously posted a blog in preparation for it’s release, and now we’re excited it’s finally arrived. You can buy the book at Amazon and Chapters....

Heritage Toronto Awards Announced

by ERA Architects

After much awaited anticipation, Heritage Toronto held its awards ceremony on Tuesday, October 13th, 2015. The event was held at the Koerner Hall in Toronto and was hosted by the host of CBC Radio’s Fresh Air, Mary Ito. This year’s Kilbourn Lecturer was Rahul K. Bhardwaj, President and CEO of the Toronto Foundation. The awards...

University of Toronto’s Landscape of Landmark Quality Design Competition

by ERA Architects

The University of Toronto put forward an eight-week intensive Landscape of Landmark Quality Innovative Design Competition to revitalize the historic landscapes of St. George campus. These major public spaces include King’s College Circle, Hart House Circle, the Sir Daniel Wilson Quadrangle, Back Campus, and Tower Road. Following a qualification stage, four teams were selected to...

Harvest Festival in Thorncliffe Park

by ERA Architects

On Saturday, September 26th, the Third Not-So-Annual Harvest Festival took place in Thorncliffe Park. Hosted by not-for-profit Diasporic Genius (DG), the festival featured a pop-up Women’s Cultural Café, an initiative of the Thorncliffe Action Group (TAG). Diasporic Genius, TAG, and ERA Architects collaborated to design, build, and run this dynamic pop-up café. Thorncliffe Action Group (TAG)...

Visit the Markham House!

by ERA Architects

This Saturday, September 19, 2015, Mirvish Village will be hosting the grand opening of the Markham House, located at 610 Markham Street. Doors will open from 11:00am to 6:00pm, providing guests the opportunity to revel in an abundance of festivities. There will be food and drinks presented by tasty cafes and restaurants from the Annex...

Celebrating the Upcoming Heritage Toronto Awards

by ERA Architects

Heritage Toronto recently released the list of award nominees for the William Greer Architectural Conservation and Craftsmanship category. ERA is proud to be part of six out of sixteen nominated teams. These six projects are diverse in their time period, conservational approach, and cultural impact. They range from the rehabilitation of the Hermant Building’s bronze...

Master Shipbuilders: Book Launch and Signing!

by ERA Architects

Calvin D. Evans’ Master Shipbuilders of Newfoundland and Labrador: Volume Two, Notre Dame Bay to Petty Harbour magnificently captures the rich maritime history spanning the coasts of Newfoundland and Labrador. This documentation of Canada’s coastal craftsmanship accompanies its well-received predecessor, Master Shipbuilders of Newfoundland and Labrador: Volume One, Cape Spear to Boyd’s Cove. Both volumes offer a...

EU Research for Tower Renewal

by ERA Architects

As part of ongoing research related to the Tower Renewal project, ERA’s Graeme Stewart and Michael McClelland, with project partners Evergreen Cityworks and planningAlliance, recently toured the Netherlands and Germany. Touring built projects, construction sites, and meeting with planners, engineers, architects, city administrators, and even a Dutch Senator, the team witnessed Europe’s cutting edge in...

Metropolis: Tower Renewal Key to Toronto’s Liveability

by ERA Architects

This month’s issue of Metropolis Magazine ranks Toronto #1 globally for liveability; it is in good company with Tokyo and Helsinki, numbers two and three respectively. The feature article, written by Toronto Star columnist Christer Hume, outlines Toronto’s many virtues and points to Tower Renewal as a way forward for both enhancing liveability and addressing the...

Conference Proceedings (Videos) from TCLF: Second Wave of Modernism III

by ERA Architects

Early this spring, the highly anticipated Second Wave of Modernism III: Leading with Landscape, a conference series led by The Cultural Landscape Foundation (TCLF), was held at Isabel Bader Theatre on Friday May 22nd. It was attended by 430 conference delegates from Canada and around the world, including a significant contingent of City of Toronto staff...

ERA Presents at TCLF Second Wave of Modernism III: Leading with Landscape

by ERA Architects

The highly anticipated Second Wave of Modernism III: Leading with Landscape, a conference series led by The Cultural Landscape Foundation (TCLF), was held at Isabel Bader Theatre on Friday May 22nd. It was attended by 430 conference delegates from Canada and around the world, including a significant contingent of City of Toronto staff from various departments....

Congratulations to our new Associates and Principal

by ERA Architects

In recognition of their professional achievements, ERA Architects is excited to announce the appointment of five of our staff to the position of Associate. In addition, our current Associate Graeme Stewart has been appointed the position of Principal. Each individual has contributed to our core values of city building engagement, heritage architecture conservation, and democratic community...

Urban Governance: A Joint MITACS Project ( by guest blogger Jeff Biggar)

by ERA Architects

It is a paradoxical time for the future of public spaces in Toronto. We live in a moment of increasing public awareness and interest in public spaces, but also face decreasing public resources to support them. Creating a role for the private sector in this context seems all the more necessary, but what that role entails,...

Planning and Development: A Joint MITACS Project ( by guest blogger Jeff Biggar)

by ERA Architects

Ensuring developers make contributions toward the public realm rests on how the process is managed. Whether developers are perceived as purely profit-driven or act with a social conscience depends on how the parameters are set, as well as how public goals are defended and realized. What, then, is the role of the developer in the...

Investing in the Public Realm: A Joint MITACS Project (by guest blogger Jeff Biggar)

by ERA Architects

When Toronto councillors and staff direct money into the street, it does the city a service. City advocate, Annabel Vaughn, observes that the public realm is what we understand. When we walk around the city, we see the first six stories of a building, and the rest is out of sight. Public realm in this...

Heroic: A New Book Coming Soon!

by ERA Architects

When ERA’s book Concrete Toronto: A Guide to Concrete Architecture from the Fifties to the Seventies was featured at Boston’s Pinkcomma Gallery, which exhibited concrete buildings in the Boston area, Graeme Stewart and Michael McClelland had the chance to meet with Chris Grimley, Michael Kubo, and Mark Pasnik. Kubo, who is pursuing his PhD in architecture history, alongside Pasnik...