Craven Road Studio is the most recent contemporary architecture project designated as a heritage property by the City of Toronto. Photo by Bob Gundu
For many, the term ?heritage? applies exclusively to older buildings. Most municipalities in Canada will only consider properties that are at least 40 years old for heritage designation. But the Ontario Heritage Act sees it differently, allowing for ?potential and existing properties of cultural heritage value or interest,? regardless of their age, to be identified, designated, and protected from character-damaging changes.
The City of Toronto has long, if quietly, embraced the possibilities of the province?s open definition. Recently, it gave a heritage designation to Shim-Sutcliffe?s Craven Road House and Studio, buildings completed in 1996 and 2005 respectively. In 2004, it designated Taylor Hariri Pontarini?s McKinsey & Company Headquarters?only five years after its completion. Trillium Park, designed by West 8 and LANDinc and opened in 2017, was included when Ontario Place was added to the City?s Heritage Register in 2019. In the case of the Craven Road property, the designation was instigated by owner Robert G. Hill, an architect at KPMB and the creator of the Biographical Dictionary of Architects in Canada, 1800-1950. The designation concludes that the house and studio hold cultural value based on the awards they have received, their association with both Robert G. Hill and Shim-Sutcliffe Architects, and their adept...