Selected recent client press hits

2023

Canadian Architect

canadian architect press hit kingston east community centre plus vg architects

KINGSTON EAST COMMUNITY CENTRE, KINGSTON, ONTARIO icon indicating an external link 

Client: +VG Architects (The Ventin Group Ltd.)

+VG Architects worked closely with the City of Kingston, Ont., and its participating community groups to design the Kingston East Community Centre. The 22,000-square-foot, $12-million (US$8.82-million) project, the newest recreational centre in the city, was completed in July 2022 and marks an important step in Kingston’s goal of achieving net-zero emissions by 2050. As Kingston Mayor Bryan Paterson said at the official opening, the centre is “a state-of-the-art facility not only in the spaces that we can offer our community but in energy efficiency. This building is really setting the mark and the standard for what city facilities will be in the future. It also sets the standard for our community as a whole.”

“The is the first +VG Architects project with such a significant solar component. It’s certainly the most sustainable building the company has ever done,” says Project Architect Dan Wojcik.

Canadian Association of Heritage Professionals

cahp press hit oakville coach house ontario plus vg architects

OAKVILLE COACH HOUSE icon indicating an external link 

Client: +VG Architects (The Ventin Group Ltd.)

Text by David Lasker

Photography by David Lasker Photography

The official opening of the picturesque Shingle Style Oakville Coach House in 2022 marked the completion by +VG of the adaptive reuse of the Erchless Estate, a cultural heritage property designated under the Ontario Heritage Act as an intact surviving example of an estate developed by a wealthy settler family. This fine ensemble of historic buildings on an elevated natural embankment overlooking Lake Ontario, the mouth of Oakville Harbour, and Sixteen Mile Creek, comprises the Customs House (1856); the Italianate-style residence (1858), former home of six generations of the town’s founding Chisholm family and restored as the Oakville Museum by +VG in 1991; the Post Office (1835); and the Coach House (1901).

Canadian Interiors

canadian interiors press hit oakville coach house ontario plus vg architects

GATES SWING OPEN: ERCHLESS ESTATE COACH HOUSE icon indicating an external link 

Client: +VG Architects (The Ventin Group Ltd.)

Photography by David Lasker Photography

The official opening of the picturesque Shingle Style Oakville Coach House in 2022 marked the completion by +VG of the adaptive reuse of the Erchless Estate, a cultural heritage property designated under the Ontario Heritage Act as an intact surviving example of an estate developed by a wealthy settler family. This fine ensemble of historic buildings on an elevated natural embankment overlooking Lake Ontario, the mouth of Oakville Harbour, and Sixteen Mile Creek, comprises the Customs House (1856); the Italianate-style residence (1858), former home of six generations of the town’s founding Chisholm family and restored as the Oakville Museum by +VG in 1991; the Post Office (1835); and the Coach House (1901).

Designlines

designlines press hit port credit house plus vg architects

PORT CREDIT HOUSE HONOURS OLD AND NEW icon indicating an external link 

Client: +VG Architects (The Ventin Group Ltd.)

Rather than tear down a heritage Arts and Crafts bungalow on Hiawatha Parkway in the Toronto suburb of Port Credit and build a new, larger McMansion as is the norm, the client wanted to expand the house without violating its stylistic integrity or impacting upon the extensive mature landscape that includes a pond. They turned to +VG Architects Principal Chris Hall, who created a vertical addition.

Insauga

insauga press hit oakville coach house ontario plus vg architects

WALKING TOUR OF ERCHLESS ESTATE ABOUT THE ‘FOUNDATIONS’ OF OAKVILLE icon indicating an external link 

Client: +VG Architects (The Ventin Group Ltd.)

Photography by David Lasker Photography

The official opening of the picturesque Shingle Style Oakville Coach House in 2022 marked the completion by +VG of the adaptive reuse of the Erchless Estate, a cultural heritage property designated under the Ontario Heritage Act as an intact surviving example of an estate developed by a wealthy settler family. This fine ensemble of historic buildings on an elevated natural embankment overlooking Lake Ontario, the mouth of Oakville Harbour, and Sixteen Mile Creek, comprises the Customs House (1856); the Italianate-style residence (1858), former home of six generations of the town’s founding Chisholm family and restored as the Oakville Museum by +VG in 1991; the Post Office (1835); and the Coach House (1901).

National Post

press hit national post frankfranco architects deja vu house

HOME DESIGN: MAKING AN OLD FAMILY HOME “RIGHT FOR A NEW GENERATION” icon indicating an external link 

Client: FrankFranco Architects

FrankFranco Architects transformed a 3,800-square-foot Toronto ravine home to suit the next generation of homeowners. Situated on a wide lot in an established suburban neighborhood, the 30-year-old home underwent an extensive interior renovation. The update suits the new owners’ more-contemporary design aesthetic and  captures views of the lush ravine at the rear. Francesco Di Sarra, Principal Architect at FrankFranco Architects, titled this project “Deja View” for the feeling of an experience that’s familiar yet shrouded in the mists of time.

Oakville Beaver

oakville beaver press hit oakville coach house ontario plus vg architects

5 THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT CELEBRATING INTERNATIONAL MUSEUM DAY IN OAKVILLE icon indicating an external link 

Client: +VG Architects (The Ventin Group Ltd.)

Photography by David Lasker Photography

The official opening of the picturesque Shingle Style Oakville Coach House in 2022 marked the completion by +VG of the adaptive reuse of the Erchless Estate, a cultural heritage property designated under the Ontario Heritage Act as an intact surviving example of an estate developed by a wealthy settler family. This fine ensemble of historic buildings on an elevated natural embankment overlooking Lake Ontario, the mouth of Oakville Harbour, and Sixteen Mile Creek, comprises the Customs House (1856); the Italianate-style residence (1858), former home of six generations of the town’s founding Chisholm family and restored as the Oakville Museum by +VG in 1991; the Post Office (1835); and the Coach House (1901).

Retrofit Home

oakville beaver press hit oakville coach house ontario plus vg architects

IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE icon indicating an external link 

Client: +VG Architects (The Ventin Group Ltd.)

The home renovation in St. Catharines, Ontario, by and for Paul Sapounzi, President and Managing Partner at +VG Architects (The Ventin Group Ltd.), is unusual in many respects. His family previously lived in a 5,000 sq ft house on an acre overlooking the Grand River in Cambridge; it had a very big footprint. The new, two-bedroom, carbon-neutral home is less than one-third the size and they love it. It measures 1,560 square feet over two floors and sits on 0.04 acres (50 feet by 35 feet). “My architecture firm designs big, beautiful houses, but I chose to live a more modest life with my family and it’s paying off,” he says.

The retrofit not only retains the 25 feet by 32 feet footprint of the 1911 cottage, but also its elevations and site plan. Demonstrating sensitivity to heritage context, its steel cladding and fastening details pay homage to what was the most important Canadian shipbuilding centre during the 19th century, located 20 minutes east of Niagara Falls.

On an ideological level, the project makes a polemical argument against the conspicuous consumption of McMansions and monster homes. On a personal level, the house is a remembrance of things past that makes a nostalgic yet contemporary, back-to-the-future statement about family and community.

 

Toronto Star

toronto star press hit frankfranco architects casa cascade

COUPLE WITH THREE KIDS AND EXPECTING ANOTHER WANTED SOMETHING DIFFERENT FROM THEIR HOME icon indicating an external link 

Client: FrankFranco Architects

Casa Cascade is a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde project: On the outside, a 7,000-square-foot traditional limestone-clad house in a subdivision north of Toronto. Inside, an interior that was updated and made more functional in an environmentally responsible way without a major gut.

The Modernist renovation by Francesco Di Sarra, Principal Architect at FrankFranco Architects, based in Kleinburg, Ont., proved acceptable to the mass market: The client bought the residence for $3 million with the intention to renovate, spent $1 million on remodeling in 2019, then sold the house in 2022 for $7 million, making it the highest-priced listing in the area.

“This project is a case study in why a builder is not an architect,” Di Sarra says. Inside, “The spaces were devoid of any logic,” he adds, with redundant entries to rooms and a large lightwell cut-out in the second-storey hallway that made no sense because there was no skylight above it to draw light from. “The owner came to me, saying about the house, ‘What do I do with it?’ That was the exact sentence. They bought it with the intention to renovate.”

The extensive interior renovation included the relocation of a secondary stair, a sunroom expansion, reorganization of the interior spaces and an updated materials palette. In contrast to the white-and-chrome “before” interior, the makeover creates a relaxed atmosphere by introducing wood, warm metals and natural stones.

In its as-found state, the interior suffered from oppressive faux-Victorian ornament such as columned archways, fussy door-panel mouldings and, in the living room, incongruously oversize octagonal ceiling coffers.

Adjoining the house is a new pool house, Sinatra Cabana, so-named because it was inspired by the midcentury Modernist Palm Springs hideaway of Ol’ Blue Eyes. The clients, who often host summer gatherings, wanted a pool house reflecting their casual lifestyle. The building is used throughout the year because it also serves the tennis court, which converts to an ice surface that the clients’ children skate on all winter long. They use the cabana as the change room for all their outdoor activities.

Toronto Sun

toronto sun press hit frankfranco architects modern victorian

INNER SPACE icon indicating an external link 

Client: FrankFranco Architects

Here is a budget-sensitive renovation of a space-challenged, 110-year-old semi-detached house in Toronto’s Little Italy neighbourhood.

She felt strongly about maintaining the traditional character of the home; he hoped to achieve a boldly modern aesthetic. To satisfy both halves of the client couple, the renovation preserves the Victorian façade that contributes to the charming period streetscape while adding a contrasting contemporary extension facing the rear laneway.

“There are very limited changes you can make to these homes,” advises Francesco Di Sarra, founder and Principal Architect at FrankFranco Architects, based in Kleinburg, Ont. His firm gutted all four levels of the narrow, 12-feet-wide residence.

The living room’s floating staircase exemplifies the stylish changes: Concealed LED cove lighting outlines the stairs’ zigzagging sculptural form. A frameless glass barrier acts as a safety guard without blocking light from entering the stairwell while eliminating the need for a balustrade and its attendant clutter of supporting balusters, a boon in such a close space. “It’s a simple, elemental solution,” he says of the glass wall.

toronto sun press hit frankfranco architects modern victorian

SMALLER FOOTPRINT, BIGGER HEARTPRINT icon indicating an external link 

Client: +VG Architects (The Ventin Group Ltd.)

The home renovation in St. Catharines, Ontario, by and for Paul Sapounzi, President and Managing Partner at +VG Architects (The Ventin Group Ltd.), is unusual in many respects. His family previously lived in a 5,000 sq ft house on an acre overlooking the Grand River in Cambridge; it had a very big footprint. The new, two-bedroom, carbon-neutral home is less than one-third the size and they love it. It measures 1,560 square feet over two floors and sits on 0.04 acres (50 feet by 35 feet). “My architecture firm designs big, beautiful houses, but I chose to live a more modest life with my family and it’s paying off,” he says.

The retrofit not only retains the 25 feet by 32 feet footprint of the 1911 cottage, but also its elevations and site plan. Demonstrating sensitivity to heritage context, its steel cladding and fastening details pay homage to what was the most important Canadian shipbuilding centre during the 19th century, located 20 minutes east of Niagara Falls.

On an ideological level, the project makes a polemical argument against the conspicuous consumption of McMansions and monster homes. On a personal level, the house is a remembrance of things past that makes a nostalgic yet contemporary, back-to-the-future statement about family and community.

2022

Architecture-Building

niagara parks power station by plus vg architects press hit in architecture building david lasker photography

+VG ARCHITECTS UNDERTAKES THE ADAPTIVE REUSE OF HISTORIC NIAGARA PARKS POWER STATION icon indicating an external link 

Client: +VG Architects

Photography by David Lasker Photography

Niagara Parks Power Station launched the modern electrical industrial era. This is where AC current was first generated and distributed over long distance on an energy grid at commercial scale using generators provided by George Westinghouse and his business partner Nikola Tesla. +VG Architects restored it as a new iconic entertainment, education and tourism destination.

 

 

Architizer

niagara parks power station by plus vg architects press hit in architecture building david lasker photography

ACUITY BRANDS FEATURED PRODUCT: PEERLESS LIGHTING INSTALLATION AND HILLSBURGH PUBLIC LIBRARY icon indicating an external link 

Client: +VG Architects

Photography by David Lasker Photography

+VG Architects wraps a new addition around a 19th-century farmhouse.

 

 

rosemount public library ottawa by plus vg architects in architizer

ROSEMOUNT PUBLIC LIBRARY, OTTAWA, CANADA icon indicating an external link 

Client: +VG Architects

+VG Architects’s adaptive reuse transforms Ottawa’s last remaining Carnegie library into a more welcoming and inclusive destination.

 

 

Award

award magazine press hit plus vg architects the ventin group

THE ART OF ADAPTIVE RE-USE icon indicating an external link 

Client: +VG Architects (The Ventin Group Ltd.)

Photography by David Lasker Photography

Cover story: “For more than 50 years, +VG Architects has been making the impossible, possible.

Building

building magazine eberhard zeidler memoriam by david lasker

IN MEMORIAM: EBERHARD ZEIDLER’S ARCHITECTURE DEFINES THE TORONTO STYLE icon indicating an external link 

Former client: Zeidler Partnership Architects

Text by David Lasker

“…when it comes to the astute mixing of uses — where a building contains more than one type of component, such as office, retail or housing — Zeidler created the archetypes: Eaton Centre (1979) and Queen’s Quay (1983). A 1986 readership survey by Progressive Architecture ranked the Eaton Centre among the “greatest architectural complexes in North America,” and declared Queen’s Quay among the “best restoration or adaptive re-use projects of the past five years.” 

Canadian Interiors

canadian interiors press hitgrey county administration centre plus vg architects

GOOD GOVERNANCE EMDODIED: GREY COUNTY ADMINISTRATION BUILDING icon indicating an external link 

Client: +VG Architects

Text by David Lasker

+VG Architects updates Grey County’s administration building, gathering previously dispersed services into an accessible, community-friendly hub.

canadian interiors press hit table rock house restaurant niagara falls ontario plusvg architects david lasker photography

DINING ON THE EDGE icon indicating an external link 

Client: +VG Architects

Renovation, with Johnson Chou Design, of the restaurant and retail mall at historic Table Rock House, Niagara Falls, Ontario.

canadian interiors press hit kingston pumphouse steam museum

AN INSIDE JOB: KINGSTON PUMPHOUSE STEAM MUSEUM icon indicating an external link 

Client: +VG Architects

Text by David Lasker

Photography by David Lasker Photography

An expansion and interior renovation of the Kingston Pump House Steam Museum distinguishes between old and new while respecting the original structure’s Victorian industrial vernacular style.

 

canadian interiors eberhard zeidler memoriam by david lasker

IN MEMORIAM: EBERHARD ZEIDLER icon indicating an external link 

Former client: Zeidler Partnership Architects

Text by David Lasker

Photography by David Lasker Photography

Zeidler’s autobiography, Buildings Cities Life, was published in 2013, and Canadian Interiors had the pleasure of attending the launch party. Below is the segment by David Lasker that appeared in our Who’s Who department of the November-December 2013 issue.

“Please bring a strong arm to take away your complimentary book,” said the invitation to the book launch of Buildings Cities Life, the massive, heavy autobiography of Eberhard Zeidler, architect of Toronto’s Eaton Centre and Queen’s Quay, Vancouver’s BC Place and many another important building here and abroad. The event was a joyous reunion for friends of the Zeidler clan, taking place as it did in daughter Christina’s hip Gladstone Hotel.”

 

Metropolis

metropolis press hit niagara parks power station plus vg architects

NIAGARA FALLS POWER STATION IS NOW AN EDUCATION AND ENTERTAINMENT DESTINATION icon indicating an external link 

Client: +VG Architects

Photography by David Lasker Photography

Niagara Parks Power Station launched the modern electrical industrial era. This is where AC current was first generated and distributed over long distance on an energy grid at commercial scale using generators provided by George Westinghouse and his business partner Nikola Tesla. +VG Architects restored it as a new iconic entertainment, education and tourism destination.

 

Mortarr

mortarr hillsburgh public library plus vg architects david lasker photography

ACUITY BRANDS FEATURED PROJECT: PEERLESS LIGHTING INSTALLATION AT HILLSBURGH PUBLIC LIBRARY icon indicating an external link 

Client: +VG Architects

Photography by David Lasker Photography

+VG Architects wraps a new addition around a 19th-century farmhouse.

 

 

Municipal World

municipal world plus vg architects sponsored page

ONTARIO’S UNOFFICIAL MUNICIPAL ARCHITECT FOR 50 YEARS icon indicating an external link 

Client: +VG Architects

Text by David Lasker

David Lasker Communications created a full-page advertorial feature story in Municipal World to celebrate the 50th anniversary of +VG Architects.

Officeinsight

officeinsight press hit niagara parks power station by plus vg architects

TESLA TRANSFORMED icon indicating an external link 

Client: +VG Architects

Text by David Lasker

Photography by David Lasker Photography

Niagara Parks Power Station launched the modern electrical industrial era. This is where AC current was first generated and distributed over long distance on an energy grid at commercial scale using generators provided by George Westinghouse and his business partner Nikola Tesla. +VG Architects restored it as a new iconic entertainment, education and tourism destination.

 

 

 

Retrofit

retrofit magazine cover only niagara parks power staton david lasker photography

THE PRISTINE POWERPLANT icon indicating an external link 

Client: +VG Architects

Cover story photography by David Lasker Photography

Niagara Parks Power Station launched the modern electrical industrial era. This is where AC current was first generated and distributed over long distance on an energy grid at commercial scale using generators provided by George Westinghouse and his business partner Nikola Tesla. +VG Architects restored it as a new iconic entertainment, education and tourism destination.

 

 

 

Retrofit Home

retrofit home press hit hiawatha house toronto plus vg architects

AN ARTS AND CRAFTS BUNGALOW RECEIVES A SECOND STORY, OVERLOOKING, RATHER THAN IMPEDING, ITS MATURE LANDSCAPE icon indicating an external link 

Client: +VG Architects

Rather than tear down a heritage Arts and Crafts bungalow on Hiawatha Parkway in the Toronto suburb of Port Credit and build a new, larger McMansion as is the norm, the client wanted to expand the house without violating its stylistic integrity or impacting upon the extensive mature landscape that includes a pond. They turned to +VG Architects Principal Chris Hall, who created a vertical addition.

 

 

Revitalization

revitalization press hit niagara parks power station plus vg architects

BUILT BY NIKOLA TESLA, GEORGE WESTINGHOUSE, JP MORGAN, WORLD’S FIRST AC GENERATING PLANT HAS BEEN ADAPTIVELY REUSED TO POWER ECONOMY icon indicating an external link 

Client: +VG Architects

Photography by David Lasker Photography

Niagara Parks Power Station launched the modern electrical industrial era. This is where AC current was first generated and distributed over long distance on an energy grid at commercial scale using generators provided by George Westinghouse and his business partner Nikola Tesla. +VG Architects restored it as a new iconic entertainment, education and tourism destination.

 

 

 

Toronto Star

toronto star press hit house on harrington lake plus vg architects

TURNING TYPICAL LAKE HOME DESIGN ON ITS SIDE icon indicating an external link 

Client: +VG Architects

This upscale +VG Architects cottage project links the exterior to the interior, visually and spatially.

 

 

toronto star press hit hiawatha house plus vg architects

MODERN RENO RESPECTS PORT CREDIT HOME’S 1950S COTTAGE CHARACTER icon indicating an external link 

Client: +VG Architects

Rather than tear down a heritage Arts and Crafts bungalow on Hiawatha Parkway in the Toronto suburb of Port Credit and build a new, larger McMansion as is the norm, the client wanted to expand the house without violating its stylistic integrity or impacting upon the extensive mature landscape that includes a pond. They turned to +VG Architects Principal Chris Hall, who created a vertical addition.

 

 

Treehugger

treehugger press hit niagara parks power station plus vg architects

NIAGARA FALLS POWER STATION IS RESTORED AND REPURPOSED icon indicating an external link 

Client: +VG Architects

Photography by David Lasker Photography

Niagara Parks Power Station launched the modern electrical industrial era. This is where AC current was first generated and distributed over long distance on an energy grid at commercial scale using generators provided by George Westinghouse and his business partner Nikola Tesla. +VG Architects restored it as a new iconic entertainment, education and tourism destination.

 

World Architecture News

niagara parks power station by plus vg architects press hit in world architecture news david lasker photography

+VG ARCHITECTS UNDERTAKES THE ADAPTIVE REUSE OF HISTORIC NIAGARA PARKS POWER STATION icon indicating an external link 

Client: +VG Architects

Photography by David Lasker Photography

Niagara Parks Power Station launched the modern electrical industrial era. This is where AC current was first generated and distributed over long distance on an energy grid at commercial scale using generators provided by George Westinghouse and his business partner Nikola Tesla. +VG Architects restored it as a new iconic entertainment, education and tourism destination.

 

2021

Building

building magazine press hit kingston pumphouse steam museum

KINGSTON PUMPHOUSE STEAM MUSEUM icon indicating an external link 

Client: +VG Architects

Text by David Lasker

Images by David Lasker Photography

+VG unveils a contextually attuned transformation of Kingston’s historic waterworks.

 

Canadian Interiors

canadian interiors press hit hillsburgh public library plus vg architects

BEAUTY IN CONTRAST: HILLSBURGH PUBLIC LIBRARY icon indicating an external link

Client: +VG Architects

Text by David Lasker

Photography by David Lasker Photography

+VG Architects wraps a new addition around a 19th-century farmhouse.

canadian interiors magazine press hit cottage design principles

COTTAGE DESIGN PRINCIPLES FROM A TO Z icon indicating an external link

Client: +VG Architects

Text by David Lasker

+VG Principal Peter Berton offers some lessons for the lakeside.

 

canadian interiors press hit royal canadian yacht club plus vg architects

RCYC ISLAND CLUBHOUSE: CLEAN SLATE icon indicating an external link

Client: +VG Architects

Text by David Lasker

+VG Architects Principals Peter Berton and Chris Hall renovate the historic Toronto Island Royal Canadian Yacht Club Clubhouse.

 

Foodservice and Hospitality

foodservice hospitality magazine press hit table rock house restaurant

TABLE ROCK HOUSE RESTAURANT, NIAGARA FALLS icon indicating an external link 

Client: +VG Architects

At historic Table Rock House overlooking Niagara Falls, The Ventin Group Architects (+VG) and Johnson Chou Design create a destination restaurant evoking the iconic view.

 

Toronto Star

toronto star press hit david dunlap observatory plus vg architects

WITH ITS NEW RENO, RICHMOND HILL’S OBSERVATORY STILL SEEING STARS icon indicating an external link

Client: +VG Architects

Photography by David Lasker Photography

+VG Architects renovates the historic David Dunlap Observatory in Richmond Hill, Ontario.

 

toronto star press hit david dunlap observatory plus vg architects

LANDMARK: GALAXY QUEST icon indicating an external link

Client: +VG Architects

Photography by David Lasker Photography

+VG Architects renovates the historic David Dunlap Observatory in Richmond Hill, Ontario.

 

2020

Azure

press hit in azure magazine titled how good design can help schools safely re-open, thumbnail

HOW GOOD DESIGN CAN HELP SCHOOLS SAFELY RE-OPENicon indicating an external link

Client: +VG Architects

How can schools welcome students and teachers back? Through the inclusion of learning commons adaptable to all curricula. (The photo shows the soaring, 40-foot-high, wedge-shaped daylit atrium at +VG’s St. Mary’s High School in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario.)

press hit in azure magazine titled time to reboot, thumbnail

IT’S TIME FOR A REBOOT icon indicating an external link

Client: +VG Architects

Paul Sapounzi, President and Managing Partner at +VG, reveals how to make schools more versatile.

Building

+VG: ONTARIO’S UNOFFICIAL MUNICIPAL ARCHITECTicon indicating an external link

Client: +VG Architects

Text by David Lasker

+VG has an unusual business model: designing public facilities for smaller municipalities, getting ratepayers on board, then securing provincial and federal aid to get the thing built.

building magazine press hit titled hex pods, thumbnail

HEX PODSicon indicating an external link

Client: +VG Architects

Text by David Lasker

To enable public schools to reopen safely during COVID, +VG reimagines the portable school classroom.

Canadian Architect

press hit in canadian architect magazine for oomph group

WHAT’S YOUR STORY?icon indicating an external link

The Oomph Group, headed by Johanna Hoffmann, relaunches to deliver integrated marketing and business development services to architecture, engineering, planning and interior design firms.

Media contact: David Lasker Communications

press hit in canadian architect magazine for burlington courthouse building

BURLINGTON POA COURTHOUSE OFFERS DEVELOPMENT MODEL FOR CASH-STRAPPED MUNICIPALITIESicon indicating an external link

Client: +VG Architects

Images by David Lasker Photography

“We applied contextual inspirations to evoke the spirit of the place and imbue the facility with an imaginative sense of place and poetry that pays homage to the primeval forests, the lake and even the weather,” says Ed Bourdeau, Partner and Architectural Project Manager at +VG.

press hit in canadian architect magazine for hamilton courthouse building

+VG ARCHITECTS RESTORES MIDCENTURY-MODERN COURTHOUSE IN HAMILTONicon indicating an external link

Client: +VG Architects

Images by David Lasker Photography

An iconic midcentury-modern heritage building in Hamilton, Ontario, has undergone an extensive revitalization that blends elements of the building’s proud heritage with new and modern amenities.

press hit in canadian architect magazine for peterborough public library

+VG ARCHITECTS RENOVATES THE PETERBOROUGH PUBLIC LIBRARYicon indicating an external link

Client: +VG Architects

The renovation and addition to the main branch of the Public Library in Peterborough, Ontario, exemplifies an important trend in urban living, explains +VG’s Peter Berton, the project’s Partner-in-Charge. “It’s a very big thing. More than just a library with books and internet, this is a community hub.”

press hit in canadian architect magazine for taro hall

+VG ARCHITECTS RENOVATES BROCK UNIVERSITY’S GOODMAN SCHOOL OF BUSINESSicon indicating an external link

Client: +VG Architects

The project will have a big impact on Goodman’s 2,900 undergrads and 520 graduate students, said Barry Wright,  Interim Dean, when it launched. “This is about giving Goodman students a better advantage in launching their careers. Yes, the architecture will be beautiful, but importantly this project brings a new generation of teaching and learning facilities that are truly state-of-the-art.”

Canadian Interiors

canadian interiors magazine press hit titled a tangible conneection

A TANGIBLE CONNECTION: HOUSE ON HALIBURTON LAKEicon indicating an external link

Client: +VG Architects

Text by David Lasker

This upscale +VG Architects cottage project links the exterior to the interior, visually and spatially.

 

canadian interiors magazine press hit stacklab felt collection

FELT COLLECTIONicon indicating an external link

Client: Stacklab

Stacklab works with regional Merino wool manufacturers to take surplus off-cut and end-of-bolt felted wool out of the waste stream and turn them into furniture.

 

Canadian Press

toronto star newspaper canadian press press hit covid school

CANADIAN SCHOOLS FACE DAUNTING, UNIQUE REOPENING CHALLENGES DURING PANDEMICicon indicating an external link

Client: +VG Architects

We arranged for Canadian Press Reporter Michelle McQuigge to interview +VG President and Managing Partner Paul Sapounzi about making schools safe during COVID. Her story appeared in dozens of newspapers across Canada including, as shown here, The Toronto Star.

 

Construction Links Network

construction links network press hit Paul Sapounzi FRAIC

+VG ARCHITECTS MANAGING PARTNER PAUL SAPOUNZI “ONTARIO’S MUNICIPAL ARCHITECT,” APPOINTED RAIC FELLOWicon indicating an external link

Client: +VG Architects

Our press release on +VG Managing Partner Paul Sapounzi’s appointment as Fellow of the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada included the moniker “Ontario’s unofficial municipal architect.” The nickname, in full or shortened form, evidently appeals to editors.

 

Municipal World

municipal world magazine press hit st thomas police

THE NEW, COMMUNITY-FRIENDLY FACE OF LAW ENFORCEMENTicon indicating an external link

Client: +VG Architects

“I call this a community-friendly police building.”—Chris C. Herridge, Chief of Police, St. Thomas, Ontario.

 

Officeinsight

officeinsight ejournal press hit teknion nienkamper ergocentric

CANADIAN MANUFACTURERS COPE WITH COVID-19icon indicating an external link

Clients: Nienkamper, Teknion

Text by David Lasker

How are Canadian contract manufacturers coping with COVID? Better than expected. We interviewed the presidents of three Toronto-area firms: ErgoCentric’s Terry Cassaday, Nienkamper’s Klaus Nienkamper and Teknion’s David Feldberg. They’ve found imaginative ways to turn the massive economic disruption to advantage, even having fun along the way.

 

 

Toronto Star

toronto star newspaper press hit ernestine tahedl 1

SEE MUSIC THE WAY THIS KING CITY ARTIST PERCEIVES IT AT THIS TORONTO GALLERYicon indicating an external link

Client: Gallery 133

For feature editors at mass-market publications, abstract painting isn’t necessarily the most appealing topic. But by creating a story hook about synesthesia, we made Ernestine Tahedl’s music-inspired canvasses “sexy.”

2019

Blue Line

blue line magazine press hit titled a building suited to the changing face of law enforcement

A BUILDING SUITED TO THE CHANGING FACE OF LAW ENFORCEMENTicon indicating an external link

Client: +VG Architects

Ontario’s new St.  Thomas Police Service building depicts the evolving change in crime patterns and the trend to more community- and detainee-friendly policing

 

Building

building magazine press hit titled improved public realm starts to take shape at university of windsor

IMPROVED PUBLIC REALM STARTS TO TAKE SHAPE AT UNIVERSITY OF WINDSORicon indicating an external link

Client: +VG Architects

To mark the University of Windsor’s 50th anniversary, the school engaged +VG to create a campus master plan with a vision for the next 50 years.

 

building magazine press hit titled lakeside disruptor

CAYMAN MARSHALL: LAKESIDE DISRUPTORicon indicating an external link

Client: Cayman Marshall International Realty

Text by David Lasker

Move over, Toronto and Vancouver. Look to the wilds of Muskoka, where Cayman Marshall International Realty has created Canada’s latest real estate hothouse.

 

Canadian Architect

canadian architect magazine press hit university of windsor

+VG ARCHITECTS COMPLETE FIRST PHASE OF U OF WINDSOR MASTER PLANicon indicating an external link

Client: +VG Architects

To mark the University of Windsor’s 50th anniversary, the school engaged +VG to create a campus master plan for the Ontario institution with a vision for the next 50 years.

 

Canadian Interiors

canadian interiors magazine press hit sales centres

SALES CENTRE AS PROPHECYicon indicating an external link

Client: Cecconi Simone

Text by David Lasker

How Cecconi Simone creates a cohesive vision of condominium amenity spaces, from presentation centres to the finished product.

 

Interior Design

interior design magazine thumbnail

COMMUNITY AGENCY AND STACKLAB THINK GREEN FOR TORONTO’S DESIGN EXCHANGE MUSEUMicon indicating an external link

Client: Stacklab

Amid recycled wood chips and pine seedlings planted in glass vials strung from biodegradable polymer fishing line, winding maple plaques in Stacklab’s Wild Abode exhibit told the story of how natural wood makes its way into homes.

 

Officeinsight

office insight ejournal press hit integral business interiors

PORTRAIT OF A STARTUP SHERPAicon indicating an external link

Client: Integral Business Interiors

Text by David Lasker

Images by David Lasker Photography

Integral Business Interiors, a Toronto furniture dealership and workplace design firm, acts as a one-stop shop for startups making the transition from shared space in an incubator to their own office premises. “We mentor them once they’ve signed the lease,” says Integral co-founder Lorne Roberts.

 

 

Spaces4learning

space4slearning ejournal press hit university of windsor

BRINGING OUT THAT COMMUNITY FEELicon indicating an external link

Client: +VG Architects

To mark the University of Windsor’s 50th anniversary, the school engaged +VG to create a campus master plan with a vision for the next 50 years. The plan aims to enrich the student and community experience, update the feel of the campus and make the university more competitive.

 

 

 

2018

Building

building magazine press hit future proof school

CREATING THE “FUTURE-PROOF” SCHOOLicon indicating an external link

Client: +VG Architects

Text by David Lasker

“Even if we can’t see what’s coming, our schools are flexible enough to accommodate it.”

 

 

building magazine press hit sheridan college

80,000 SQUARE FOOT THEATRE PLANNED FOR OAKVILLE’S SHERIDAN COLLEGE.

Client: +VG Architects

For Sheridan College, +VG designed a multipurpose hall with an orchestra pit and a tall fly tower, making it capable of hosting chamber music, dance, drama, musical theatre and orchestral performances as well as conference, film and lecture presentations.

 

Canadian Interiors

canadian interiors magazine press hit mura table

STACKLAB AND JEFF GOODMAN STUDIO LAUNCH MURA LOW TABLEicon indicating an external link

Client: Stacklab

The Mura table will be produced in a limited-edition run of 25 units, with a list price of $US 60,000. It will be available exclusively at Maison Gerard, a leading New York gallery specializing in fine furniture, lighting and objets d’art by 20th-century masters and emerging contemporary designers.

 

 

canadian interiors magazine press hit wild abode

STACKLAB INSTALLATION A FINALIST FOR SBID INTERNATIONAL DESIGN EXCELLENCE AWARDicon indicating an external link

Client: Stacklab

Stacklab’s Wild Abode installation was a finalist in the 2018 SBID International Design Excellence Award in the Public Spaces category. The competition, based in London, England, ranks among the most prestigious interior design award events on the global design calendar.

 

officeinsight ejournal press hit fig40

A VISIT TO THE STUDIO OF FIG40: A DESIGN DUO TO WATCHicon indicating an external link

Client: Fig40

Text by David Lasker

Images by David Lasker Photography

By their works shall ye know them. If the Toronto-based industrial design firm Fig40 doesn’t sound familiar, many of the products they’ve designed for American and Canadian manufacturers are. To mention only their 2017 introductions: Nienkamper’s CernOffice casegoods collection, which won a Silver award at NeoCon 2017; the F4 conference chair for Stylex, that won Gold; and Tayco’s Switch systems furniture. This year will see the launch of Cache, a high-density stacking chair designed for Groupe Lacasse; desktop divider panels designed for Symmetry Office made of a felt lookalike – PET (polyethylene terephthalate recycled from soda bottles); and, at NeoCon, a table collection for Tuohy and two concrete lines for Nienkamper: Cern Accessories and the Perplex Bench.

 

 

2017

Building

building magazine press hit titled tales from the crypt

TALES FROM THE CRYPTicon indicating an external link

Client: +VG Architects

Text by David Lasker

This past September, a cadre of suitably awed journalists saw the fruits of a 14-year, $128-million renovation of historic St. Michael’s Cathedral, the principal church of Canada’s largest English-speaking Catholic archdiocese, located at 65 Bond Street in the heart of downtown Toronto. Previously, the 169-year old monument, designed by Toronto architect William Thomas, seemed dark, drab and dreary. Now it is light, bright and resplendent.

 

 

building magazine press hit titled new project targets empty nester market gap

NEW PROJECT TARGETS EMPTY-NESTER MARKET GAPicon indicating an external link

Client: Culver & Henderson Building Design

What’s an empty-nester baby boomer to do? There are plenty of options for group and assisted living. But up to now, downsizing boomers who want to continue to live independently and age gracefully in place in their own house have had little to choose from.

 

 

 

Canadian Architect

canadian architect magazine press hit st michaels cathedral

+VG ARCHITECTS CELEBRATES COMPLETED RENOVATION OF HISTORIC ST. MICHAEL’S CATHEDRALicon indicating an external link

Client: +VG Architects

The project is part of a series of extensive renovations by +VG instigated by the Archdiocese of Toronto and further encouraged by Cardinal Thomas Collins, who arrived in 2007 and had a vision to develop the cathedral as a centre of evangelization. To that end, “The cathedral should be a thing of beauty,” says architect Terrance White, Partner-in-Charge of the +VG team at the cathedral, who was assisted by David Ecclestone, +VG Partner and project architect. As the lead consultant, they worked with the archdiocese to create the renovation strategy and hire subcontractors.

 

 

 

 

Canadian Interiors

canadian interiors magazine press hit cecconi simone

KISHTI ON MEADSicon indicating an external link

Client: Cecconi Simone

Designed by Taylor Smyth Architects and Cecconi Simone Inc., Kishti on Meads is a luxury two-villa enclave on fashionable Meads Bay Beach in the Caribbean island of Anguilla. The villa with six main bedrooms has ensuite bathrooms offering garden or ocean views, rooftop and courtyard gardens, an infinity pool with ocean view beyond, and a hot tub.

 

 

 

 

The Globe and Mail

globe and mail newspaper press hit derek nicholson

HOME-BUILDER’S DIP INTO THE RED A PAINFUL LESSONicon indicating an external link

Client: Derek Nicholson

The houses that contractor Derek Nicholson builds are not your everyday, cookie-cutter suburban homes.

 

 

Zoomer

zoomer magazine press hit aqua therapy

AQUA THERAPYicon indicating an external link

Client: Culver & Henderson Building Design

Text by David Lasker

“Taking the waters, right at home? According to David Lasker, hydrotherapy pools might be an answer to easing pain and wear-and-tear on the body as we age.”

 

 

 

 

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David Lasker Communications

Banner photo: AM Studio booth, IIDEX 2008, Toronto, Ontario, copyright © David Lasker Photography.