February 11, 2025
We are happy to announce that the winner of the last month's JMA Architectural Scavenger Hunt is..... Kim Lane, who was the first to identify the January clue: The Blacksmith Shop at Doon Heritage Village, located at 10 Huron Road, Kitchener.
A bit about the Doon Blacksmith Shop:
Doon Heritage Village showcases what a small town in this area would have been like in 1914. The inspiration for this small building was the Valentine Gies Blacksmith Shop, built around 1894 and originally located in Conestogo, Waterloo County.
The requirements for the Blacksmith Shop made its design particularly fun. It was completed in 2004, but it had to look as if it was a 20 year old building in 1914. In clos…
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April 28, 2025
We're pleased to announced that John MacDonald Architect and Mark McInnis have received the Lieutenant Governor's Ontario Heritage Award for Excellence in Conservation for the adaptive reuse of the former Dickson Public School in Cambridge. At a ceremony held on Friday, April 25, 2025, at the Grand Staircase of the Legislative Building at Queen's Park in Toronto, John MacDonald, and Mark McInnis, accepted the award for Excellence in Conservation presented to Dickson Public School Adaptive Reuse, for exceptional achievement in conserving Ontario’s heritage. The Honourable Edith Dumont, Lieutenant Governor of Ontario, and John Ecker, Chair of the the Ontario Heritage Trust celebrated projects and individuals who made exceptional co…
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July 11, 2022
Eastside Branch Design Team
We're pleased to share that the Waterloo Public Library's new Eastside Branch Library has been awarded the 2022 New Library Building Award by the Ontario Library Association (OLA). According to John MacDonald: “These are the awards we cherish, where clients and their community confirm that the performing facility meets their needs, inspires their use, and validates the trust they have placed in us.”
Commitment to community development, architectural & technological innovation, and creative advancements that emphasize local connections are important aspects that are embodied by the recipients of the New Library Building Award. The award aims to encourage and showcase excellence in the design of n…
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February 16, 2021
Fun at the breakfast included a horoscope review: "use the daylight hours to the max. Others might find you to be vague. Plans take an unexpected twist or turn." Let's hope I get this article done early, I make my point clearly, and I stay on track. If not, I'll be paying more attention to random advice proffered under my zodiac sign.
Was this reference to "plans" mere chance? My day was to produce an article on those pernicious instruments called "visions" and "master plans". Was the horoscope serendipity, or some cosmic scheme showing a bit of slip? "Plans take an unexpected twist or turn" isn't, quite frankly, much of a stretch as predictions go.
Each long-term vision we construct is doomed for obsolescence. To paraphrase Colin Powell: "No master plan survives …
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Scott
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August 02, 2023
Thanks Nolan. If you can think of anything to add to the list, we'd be interested to hear from you.
Nolan Bentley
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August 01, 2023
I am going measuring tomorrow so this is a timely reflection :-) thx!
