We are happy to announce that the winner of the last month's JMA Architectural Scavenger Hunt is..... Tim Ingold! for being the first to identify the September clue: Breslau EMS/Fire Station at 51 Beacon Point Ct.      A bit about this Fire/EMS station:  Completed in 2018, this is the only station in the region that Fire and EMS share.  The training room was designed to double up as a community room for public use. The massing of the building articulates a sense of address and identity for each of the occupants. Recognizing the need to safeguard response times, and a concern for safety across the site for all users, designing a successful pattern of circulation was of huge importance. A special water saving fea… Read more ...
Every December the JMA team gathers at John and Margaret’s house to share the holiday cheer with our annual potluck.   Everyone is gathered around the table to explain the dishes they have cooked. Here John is showing the kimchi that took him a week to prepare.   Each year we choose a different theme for the potluck. We all agreed with enthusiasm that this time around we wanted to eat Korean food, so we got our creative juices to work! We learned that Koreans take great pride in their cooking traditions and having good wholesome foods in their homes.   It was great fun attempting to prepare dishes we had never cooked before...and great fun to eat them! Try out our recipes below:   Tong Dak (barbecue chicken wings) … Read more ...
  Elyn, Matt, Margaret, Marc, John and Melhik pause for a quick photo op while scaling the rocks on Wreck Island.   On the last weekend in July, 7 intrepid explorers from the JMA team set off into the sunshine to continue the tradition of the JMA Massasauga Camping Trip. Good weather, great company, and even better food were enjoyed by all over three days of canoeing, hiking, and swimming against the wild backdrop of the Canadian Shield.   Feasting in style, a full gourmet steak dinner cooked over an open fire, and “Bear Paw” pancakes!   The local fauna as seen in their natural habitat.   Marc and Elyn captured our exploration of the stunning landscape as resident office photographers. Until next year, Mas… Read more ...
March 22, 2022
Francis Green - Google Earth   Our staff occasionally assemble on Friday afternoons for an office exercise we call Things We Like. Centred around a theme determined earlier in the week, staff are invited to share examples of relevant things they enjoy. Since our first Things We Like in 2016, our staff have participated in 75 of these exercises. Some themes are intended to generate ideas for projects we're working on, while others are simply intended to encourage creativity and generate discussion about things we'd like to see in our community.    Preliminary Sketch of Downtown Kitchener, 1965 - Toronto Star   In May 2018, we met to reenvision Francis Green, the public space located at King and Francis in downtown Kitchener. This prominent corner wh… Read more ...
Numerous studies over the past two decades have touted the popular phrase “Good Design is Good Business”. But with such an intangible product, how can you know that good design will be “good” for your business?   With all the great things we know design can do for your business (such as increase productivity, reduce turnover, increase sales, reduce building maintenance costs and many more) it can be difficult for designers and firms to understand the reluctance to invest in design. Perhaps you never knew what design can do? Ask Apple. They will tell you.   While the most notable studies on the topic have come out of the U.K, there is increasing recognition throughout the Globe about the connection between design and business success. With … Read more ...
Mila chose the theme of "Industrial Architecture" for things we like because she thought the interpretation would be very versatile. The group came up with a range of choices including: industrial spaces that are in use today, buildings that were repurposed from old industry, and elements of design inspired by industry.   Margaret’s Pick: Becker Architekten’s Hydroelectric Plant, Kempten, Germany. Margaret appreciates the way the plant is integrated with the urban fabric, and wonders  if this kind of project would work for Cambridge, Ontario.   John’s Pick: Maishama Waste Incineration Plant, Osaka, Japan. This fanciful building was designed by Austrian architect Hundertwasser, who protested the uniformity of Bauhaus… Read more ...

What people are saying:

Vertical orange rectangle separator graphic.
Scott | August 02, 2023
Thanks Nolan. If you can think of anything to add to the list, we'd be interested to hear from you.
Vertical orange rectangle separator graphic.
Nolan Bentley | August 01, 2023
I am going measuring tomorrow so this is a timely reflection :-) thx!