Press

The top of 8 King Street East pre-construction.

Dave LeBlanc for The Globe and Mail: The tower that once topped Toronto shines again

by ERA Architects

Once the tallest building in the British empire, the Royal Bank building at 8 King Street East is a product of the skyscraper phenomenon that arrived in Toronto at the turn-of-the century. More than 100 years after its construction, the building has been renewed. ERA is wrapping up work on this project, which required the...

A rendering of the exterior and entrance of Ken Soble Tower.

Pandemic effect: ERA Architects for Canadian Architect magazine

by ERA Architects

As part of Canadian Architect’s Pandemic Effect series, ERA Architects’ Ya’el Santopinto and Graeme Stewart wrote about how the current pandemic is shining a light on the importance of prioritizing the retrofitting of existing mid-century towers. “Canada’s affordable apartment towers are the backbone of its purpose-built rental housing system, representing more than half of all...

Tower Renewal Solutions on CBC Radio

by ERA Architects

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...

The Legacy Lives On: Hamilton’s Built Heritage Inventory as an emerging practice in historic urban landscape stewardship

by ERA Architects

ERA Associate Victoria Angel’s article in Plan Magazine’s Winter Issue ‘Urban heritage: A living legacy’ on the UNESCO Historic Urban Landscape (HUL) Recommendation (2011) illustrates its implications and emerging practices, using the City of Hamilton’s Built Heritage Inventory as a case-study. The recommendation encourages a more holistic, integrative approach to urban heritage conservation, focusing on...

One Spadina Crescent: When All is Finally Revealed…….

by ERA Architects

ERA has been eagerly anticipating the official opening of One Spadina Crescent, the University of Toronto’s new home for the Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape and Design. Our collaboration with NADAAA and Adamson Associate Architects has seen the transformation of the historical landmark that is Knox College, conserved and updated with a beautiful new addition. The history, relevance...

The Lost Craft of Tuck Pointing

by ERA Architects

Pointing, repointing, tuck pointing, ribbon pointing, flush pointing, there are many techniques and they are all different. Tuck pointing is a style of jointing that was predominantly used on English brickwork from the late seventeen century and it continued in popular use through the early 20th century. Done properly, it is the most highly skilled...

Launching the RAC Zone

by ERA Architects

Property owners, entrepreneurs, community members, academics and city builders will gather at York University in celebration of Toronto’s newest zone: the Residential Apartment Commercial (RAC) (www.raczone.ca). Moderated by Graeme Stewart, Principal of ERA and the Centre for Urban Growth and Renewal, this event hosted by the City of Toronto will centre discussions on...

Refreshing Allan Gardens

by ERA Architects

The Friends of Allan Gardens (FOAG) are leading efforts to ensure that this historic public garden remains relevant and integrated into its ever-evolving surrounds. ERA’s Tatum Taylor, who also sits on FOAG’s Board of Directors, has published an article in the Summer/Parks issue of Spacing Magazine that describes the process for renewal. In her words:...

Evergreen Brick Works Demonstrates How Revived Heritage Spaces Create Sustainable Cities

by ERA Architects

The 53,000-square-foot kiln building at Evergreen Brick Works is set for a conversion that will create a collaboration zone to aid in building sustainable cities, with a target of developing systems and technologies for reducing carbon emissions. To set the standard, project partners EllisDon, Brookfield Global Integrated Systems, CRH Canada, Levitt Goodman Associates Architectural Partners...

New Visions for Social Housing in Canadian Architect Magazine

by ERA Architects

In the November issue of Canadian Architect author Jay Pitter investigates how spatial issues contribute to community challenges such as isolation, despair and violence in urban social housing communities. Using the community where she grew up in Toronto as a case study, Pitter explores the design deficiencies of the Corbusian “Towers in the Park” style...

Mission Point Resort Wins Prestigious Award

by ERA Architects

Mission Point Resort been recognized by Condé Nast Traveler’s Reader’s Choice Survey as the best resort in Michigan and one of the top ten resorts in the US Midwest. ERA was brought on as prime design consultants in 2014, when new ownership began an ambitious scope of improvements to upgrade guest experience and comfort requirements....

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...

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...

Overcoming Challenges in Heritage Conservation at 100 Spadina Rd.

by ERA Architects

100 Spadina Rd. Photo by Andrew Louis. What happens when a building’s heritage conservation is complicated by new building codes that were non-existent at the time of its construction? This was the case for Park Property Management’s renovation of 100 Spadina Rd., one of Uno Prii’s designs erected in 1969. As highlighted in Dave Leblanc’s...

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...

On New York’s “Printed Matter”

by ERA Architects

A recent issue of C Magazine, themed “Location,” features documentation of an artwork by ERA’s Josh Thorpe and artist David Court. The work On Printed Matter was exhibited at the New York institution Printed Matter in 2011 and was recently republished in C’s inside-back-cover section “Artefact.” On Printed Matter is an installation of text in vinyl lettering on the shopfront window of Printed Matter....

Yonge St.: development, heritage, and change

by ERA Architects

Recently Dave LeBlanc of the The Globe & Mail featured ERA Principal Michael McClelland in an article about heritage architecture and new development on Toronto’s Yonge St. In the article, Michael explains an increasingly Toronto-specific approach to heritage conservation where historic architecture is incorporated creatively by developers as integral to the design of new projects....

Emmy to Short History of the Highrise

by ERA Architects

The NFB project A Short History of the Highrise recently won the “News and Documentary” category of the Emmy Awards. ERA and the Centre for Urban Growth and Renewal (CUG+R) had the pleasure of working with director Kat Cizek on this project, which examines the current conditions and future potential of post-war high-rise living around the...

Ardshona in Cottage Life

by ERA Architects

Recently, Cottage Life Magazine published a feature on Ardshona Cottage, summer home to builder David Ballantine and his family. ERA worked with the family to refurbish their wonderful historic cottage and the surrounding landscape at Pointe au Baril, Ontario. Throughout the building, several later, discordant interventions were edited, and the layout was altered to improve...

Toronto’s City Hall: An evolving icon

by ERA Architects

Monocle recently profiled Toronto’s City Hall, designed by Finnish architect Viljo Revell, positioning it as the city’s most distinctive piece of architectural design. ERA’s Graeme Stewart is featured in the discussion of how the building began, and how it has evolved as a central moment in the urban and civic experience of Toronto. If you...

Big Idea Forum w/ Christopher Hume

by ERA Architects

Monday March 24th, ERA’s Graeme Stewart will be joining Christopher Hume and guests for a forum on the future of Toronto. The discussion begins at 6:30 pm, Innis Town Hall, 2 Sussex Ave, Toronto. The forum follows up on the Toronto Star’s Big Ideas series, in which local urbanists, activists, researchers, and citizens share their...

The Star’s Big Ideas: GTA’s future in high-rise suburbs

by ERA Architects

Throughout the first part of 2014, the Toronto Star is running a series called “Big Ideas“, asking Torontonians to think big about the future of the region. What type of Toronto do we want to create in the years to come? For our contribution to this series, we discuss Tower Renewal as the key to...

Gemini House in the Globe

by ERA Architects

In a recent article in the Globe & Mail, Dave LeBlanc explains how Gemini House provides a new, sustainable model for heritage homes. The Gemini NTED approach, developed by U of T’s Kim Pressnail and Ryerson’s Russell Richman, is a new way to engineer low-energy housing. The idea is to put a box within a...

Graeme Stewart interviewed on The Urbanist

by ERA Architects

Monocle Radio recently interviewed ERA’s Graeme Stewart on The Urbanist, a weekly program on the people and ideas that shape urban life. In this week’s edition, Andrew Tuck speaks with Graeme about Toronto’s modernist legacy and the Tower Renewal program. You can listen to this interview online at Monocle.com #61.