View of front entrance from lamp post lined garden walkway

Legislative Assembly of Ontario Building

The Legislative Assembly Building is the first and finest example of Richardsonian Romanesque architecture in Canada and is of national architectural and historic interest.

In 1990, a conservation plan, led by +VG Architects, was implemented over the next six years. The exterior conservation was one of the largest and most sophisticated stone conservation and roof refurbishment projects ever undertaken in Canada. The project was completed within 3% of estimates prepared at the out.set of the job.

The construction involved scaffolding of large sections of the building for each phase. The scope of the project included replacement of over an acre of slate and copper roof. It required the removal and restoration of over 600 historic wood windows, removal and replacement of all the face mortar and removing and replacement of over 17,000 cubic feet of sandstone. It also involved interior work, as the roof drainage system (cast iron risers buried in the interior walls) had to be replaced in its entirety.

Ordinarily this scale of project and type of construction work would be executed on an unoccupied building. This was not acceptable to the client and the building had to remain fully operational throughout the six year construction schedule. This challenge was compounded by the serious occupational health and safety risks involved with continuous noise, silica dust, volatile organic compounds in paints, caulking materials, lead dust from mortar removal, and pigeon droppings that constitute hazardous material. Stringent safety procedures were set-up and monitored on a continual basis.

The LAO building is presently in its fourth year of a five year masonry and window conservation program which involves analysis of previous conservation activities and continued conservative maintenance.

LOCATION

Toronto, Ontario

COMPLETED

1995-Present

SIZE

575,000 ft²

SERVICES

Conservation & Various Upgrades

CATEGORIES

Heritage

Institutional

AWARDS

1995 Award of Merit
Heritage Toronto


View of building nestled in amongst city scape from the new Toronto City Hall

Toronto Old City Hall

Upon completion in 1899, Toronto’s Old City Hall was the largest civic building in North America and home to government officials for 67 years during a time of intense population growth and municipal changes.

Old City Hall is the most significant building designed by architect E. J. Lennox and is the busiest courthouse in Canada, with over 10,000 people circulating within it every day.

Over the past 20 years, +VG has met the building’s challenges of intense public scrutiny and communicating with multiple stakeholder groups while executing the multi-phased conservation project. The conservation work is guided by an initial Building Condition Assessment and the Cultural Heritage Character Statement for Toronto Old City Hall.

Toronto Old City Hall ongoing work includes numerous ongoing conservation projects and building upgrades which began in 1991. Work has to be carefully scheduled to meet requirements for courtroom scheduling. +VG recently completed work on a $34 million upgrade to the building’s heating and ventilation system, introducing new systems within all spaces of the occupied courthouse, and is currently working on security upgrades at 60 Queen Street West.

LOCATION

Toronto, Ontario

CLIENT

City of Toronto

COMPLETED

1991-Present

SIZE

325,000 ft²

SERVICES

Conservation & Various Upgrades

CATEGORIES

Heritage
Institutional

PHOTOGRAPHY

Nicole Konrad (+VG Architects)

AWARDS

2010 North American Copper in Architecture Award
Canadian Copper & Brass Development Association

2005 Architecture & Urban Design Award (Honourable Mention)
City of Toronto

2000 Certificate of Commendation
Heritage Toronto

1996 Certificate of Commendation
Heritage Toronto


Hamilton POA Courthouse

+VG Architects served as the Prime Consultant, in association with Invizij Architects, to deliver all consulting services required for the design and construction of this renovation and energy modernization project which was performed through a Construction Management model.

The project includes the integration of a heating and cooling retrofit through the Hamilton Utility Corporation (“HUC”) designed independently by H.H. Angus and Associates Consulting Engineers. The design conforms to the City’s Barrier Free Design Guidelines.

The Art Deco building was previously occupied by McMaster University as a tenant. The project intent was to convert the heritage building to provide a functional space for the Provincial Offences Administration (POA) offices, as well as all necessary courtrooms and ancillary spaces for both staff and the public, and additional administrative offices for the Ontario Municipal Board and City of Hamilton staff, and to accommodate future growth.

Work to protect and preserve the historic elements of the building was guided by City of Hamilton Heritage Resource Management. The majority of the work focused on the interior renovation of the facility, but some exterior work was required to comply with accessibility and police vehicular turning radius requirements.

LOCATION

Hamilton, Ontario

CLIENT

City of Hamilton

COMPLETED

2017

SIZE

112,000 ft²

SERVICES

Renovation & Energy Modernization

CATEGORY

Institutional

PHOTOGRAPHY

Tom Ridout