A Heritage Impact Assessment is undertaken to determine the potential impacts of a proposed development or site alteration on a heritage resource and recommended mitigation and conservation measures.
Heritage Impact Assessments can be required:
for any inventoried, listed, or designated properties in a municipality;
for any property adjacent to any inventoried, listed or designated properties in a municipality;
for any property determined by city staff to have potential cultural heritage value;
for any areas or property types prescribed in a municipality’s Official Plan;
as part of an Environmental Assessment.
A Heritage Impact Assessment includes:
preparation of a historical review;
consultation with stakeholders;
identification of Cultural Heritage Landscapes and built heritage resources of heritage interest and/or value;
description of proposed project impacts;
development of a conservation or mitigation strategy;
So how did we decide that a new Athletics and Student Life Building was the next step to take in the evolution of Appleby’s campus?
Over the course of 2013-2014, Appleby undertook a significant athletic review with our community. Through this rigorous exercise, we have committed to the following:
Renewed commitment to character and leadership
Introducing the co-curricular passport allowing three terms of sports for eligible senior students
Increased Varsity team support: including additional external coaching support, meaningful travel tournaments, facilities and equipment
Enhanced learning support for student athletes
Using athletics as a centerpiece for the school by bringing our community together.
In order to achieve these goals for our students we completed an audit of our existing facilities and how we are currently supporting the Appleby programing. The findings presented us with the existing realties and the current program bottlenecks:
Not enough gym space – 1956 single gym substantially undersized for athletic activities and assemblies
Larger dedicated performing arts space needed for school shows over 150 people
Current fitness facilities are too small and do not support our fitness and health programs
All classrooms are fully utilized at peak times of day. Scheduling of classes is now limited by space, particularly in science.
Aging facilities will need continued rejuvenation and enhancements (arena, pool, etc.)
The Impact of the Project:
This facility (as planned) adds about 40% to the floor area of the school (excluding residences). We are creating many additional spaces: three gyms rather than one, smaller spaces for health and wellness (yoga, stretch classes, meditation etc.), and a 950 seat auditorium Our students will enjoy school life more as we’re adding a plethora of social spaces for community activities, informal study or simply “hanging-out”.
It’s a classic house becoming modern – a Tudor-style home from the 80s adapting to a modern world.
Wendy and Todd Buchanan bought their Mississauga home nine years ago when they moved from an Etobicoke condo. Their new 8,500 sq. ft., four-bedroom home had many Tudor-style hallmarks – dark wood accents, ornate door frames and mantelpieces, a rich palette. “It was a little elated, in my mind,” says Todd.
“We lived with the place for six or seven years to figure out what we wanted.”
Instead of a large-scale renovation to remake the home in one sweep, the Buchanans renovated piece by piece, handling some tasks on their own with support from Todd’s cousin, contractor Matthew Nesbitt. “There are pros and cons to doing this the way we’re doing it,” admits Todd. “The con is that it takes you several years. The pro is that you can do it the way you want to do it. You’re less limited by the budget because you’re doing it over years and you are able to learn from every project you complete.”
First on the list was the three-car garage. They brought in Garage Living to assist with new flooring, custom cabinetry and new baseboards. The project got the ball rolling on renovating the rest of the home. Selecting and overseeing contractors, Todd and Wendy went to work on the basement, which boasts a home gym with team room and sauna, a built-in bar, game room, den and almost completed wine cellar.
In 2015, TFS retained Seferian Design Group (SDG) to develop a master plan for the Mississauga campus. By the end of 2015, the first phase of this major project was concluded with the construction of a play yard designed for kindergarten students.
An opportunity to develop within the adjacent City property known as Petrescue Park was identified and offered an interesting perspective for the development of this open space. The main goal was to provide an activity, eco-friendly, naturalized landscaped space where community and students can safely play and experiment.
The method is to balance fields and open space with variations in topography, ground surface and vegetation, combining built and natural features with a wide range of elements to provide different looks, sensory experiences and recreational opportunities. While children are the target for active and educational recreation, the programming includes uses for other age groups as well. The City of Mississauga embraced this vision and is currently assisting SDG in providing a place where the well-being is boosted by increased interaction with nature.
Three Burlington millennials are breaking preconceptions about their demographic cohort when it comes to what they look for in a dream job. The Burlington Post sat down with a sampling of the generation born between 1983-97 to talk about their work experiences and to get their take on the current marketplace and how they see it evolving.
A 2016 survey was done by Deloitte to find out what millennials really want from a job, and discovered pay and work perks, like benefits, were top of mind.
But that wasn’t the case for 33-year-old senior landscape architect Brad Smith, who took a pay decrease to land his latest job in Burlington. “I came out of school in 2010 and, I think at that point, organizations were just coming out of the 2008 recession. They were just starting to look at recruiting so, unfortunately, I missed the boat a little bit.” – Kayla van Zon
“When I switched jobs in 2012, I didn’t chase salary at all…. I did it more for an opportunity,” said Smith, who previously worked as a landscape architect for a company in Kitchener.
“I find in my job, I look for work that challenges me… how can I be the best landscape architect and then work to be a little bit better… we definitely look for projects and opportunities that push us architects to grow.”
Agreeing with the married father of one were Kayla van Zon, a 28-year-old marketing account director, and 26-year-old Christopher Reuse, who was recently let go from his job as a project co-ordinator for a Scarborough construction firm.
The three are also part of Burlington Mayor Rick Goldring’s volunteer Millennial Advisory Committee in Burlington.
“I think for me, it’s being challenged every day, doing something that truly makes me happy. You spend the majority of your life at work, the majority of hours, the people you see, the people you deal with,” said van Zon.
“I obviously think salary is important, but I don’t think it can be No. 1. If all you’re out for is (a high) salary, you’re never going to be happy.”
On January 10, 2017, Seferian Design Group was recognized with an Award of Excellence from Landscape Ontario for the design of 35 early learning outdoor childcare play areas for the Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School Board. Brad Smith, a Senior Landscape Architect at Seferian Design Group accepted the award on behalf of the team. Since 2014, Seferian Design Group has designed over 100 play spaces for children within the School Board.
The Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School Board is one of the largest and most diverse districts in Ontario, operating 149 Elementary and Secondary Catholic schools throughout Mississauga, Brampton, Caledon and Orangeville.
With a budget of $2.5 million, the Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School Board had design programming requirements: the transformation of plain, sterile asphalt yards into low-maintenance, yet dynamic outdoor learning environments, instead of just playgrounds. Bearing that in mind, the SDG design team started developing the overall concept which has become a pioneer in Canada. Construction was initiated and completed in two months. Former asphalt jungles were replaced with brightly coloured asphalt and soft turf, big outdoor blackboards, planters for gardening, dramatic play areas, and wooden stages. Painted mathematical shapes and the alphabet were provided to be used by the teachers as learning tools extended to the outside, where kindergarten kids are exposed to at least two 40-minute blocks each day. After consultation with the children, each school chose a unique carving created by a local artist. The carvings, always an animal indigenous to Ontario, provide an identity to each play area. Some students have named their particular carving, acting as the school mascot in some instances.
In order to keep the project on budget, the design combined elements of naturalized yards with the existing asphalt pads, creating a hybrid version that provides fun opportunities of learning and discovery, and also promotes a reconnection with nature.
The scope of work included liaison with Board staff and representatives from all Authorities having jurisdiction, preparation of analysis with recommendations, proposals and designs, working drawings and specifications for tendering and construction, general review during construction, and all contract administration functions, including post occupancy to total completion and warranty period. The designs were in compliance with the applicable standards, guidelines and requirements to ensure safety. SDG has also assisted the Board with presentations and design workshops during project development.
The planning is underway for the 2016 Unilock Awards of Excellence. Over the last 19 years this has become “the event of the year” within the landscape industry. This event is to give recognition to Contractors for the outstanding workmanship that they have accomplished throughout the year. Brad and Sarah were honoured to be selected as two of three judges and will base their decision on creativity, workmanship, innovation, and integration of features throughout the categories. It takes a special eye, and discriminating perspective.
The Unilock Awards of Excellence event is an annual event where contractors get to compete with their piers on great projects which are submitted for evaluation in various categories. It’s an opportunity for Contractor’s in the landscape architectural industry to showcase their unique designs and workmanship.
This year’s Entry Categories include:
Best Front Entrance/Courtyard
Best Driveway
Best Permeable Project
Best Use of New Wall Product
Best Use of Unilock EnduraColour Plus
Best Before and After
Best Project Under 1,000 sq. ft.
Best Backyard Space
Preliminary judging took place on November 10th, 2016. Final judging occurs on November 24th. The final Awards of Excellence evening is scheduled for December 7th.
Completed in the fall of 2016, this trail consists of approximately 2.0 km of compacted stone dust multi-purpose trail (designed to meet accessibility standards), and approximately 1 km of natural ground hiking within the municipal forest surrounding the Wilmot Recreation Complex. The trail extends from the northwest corner of the WRC at the Nafziger Road entrance to the east end of the property, with a connection to the paved bike lanes on Gingerich Road. View the trail map.
The lands for these trails were generously donated to the Township of Wilmot by the benefactors of the Schmidt Estate as a legacy to the memory of Harold and Enid Schmidt’s contributions to Baden and Wilmot Township. Construction of the Schmidt Trails was completed in part with funding received through the CIP 150 program. Read more about Harold and Enid Schmidt and the CIP 150 program.
Seferian Design Group are proud to have been selected as the landscape architects and contract administrators on this project.
This morning the weathered steel pedestrian bridge was installed as part of the Wilmot Recreation Complex/ Schmidt Woods Trail Design project in Baden. In a little over one hour crews had the bridge secured in place. The trail is expected to open Monday, October 3rd with an official grand opening scheduled for late October 2016.
Newly planted trees now stand as a symbol of peace in Markham.
On Saturday, the city hosted a park dedication ceremony to mark 100 years since the Armenian genocide.
Federal, provincial and municipal government officials and members of the Armenian Genocide Centennial Committee for Canada waited in anticipation as the Forest of Hope was unveiled. The new Forest of Hope will be a place of peace and hope for the Armenian community across the GTA.
“This small forest conveys an enormous message of new life,” said provincial minister of international trade, Michael Chan, during the official opening ceremony of the memorial.
“These young trees will establish deep roots, grow tall and their branches will reach for the sky — just like the Armenian community.”
More than one-and-a-half million Armenians were systematically massacred by the Ottoman Empire starting in early 1915. Canada is one of two dozen countries that recognize the events as the first genocide of the 20th century.
“We know the meaning of genocide, its history and the importance of education,” said Armen Yeganian, ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary of the Republic of Armenia to Canada.
“We have to continue to educate, not just today, tomorrow or the first 100 years. But always, because unfortunately it still continues to happen.”
Many argue the Armenian genocide set a precedent for other mass killings such as the Holocaust during the Second World War as well as events in Kosovo and Rwanda in the 1990s. The Forest of Hope is one of about a 100 projects to commemorate the genocide’s anniversary across the country started by the Canadian arm of the Armenian Genocide Centennial Committee, which was founded four years ago.
“And this is the best one, because it calls for hope and peace,” Yeganian said.
The Forest of Hope is located in Ashton Meadows Park near Woodbine Avenue north of 16th Avenue. The park was designed by renowned landscape architect Haig Seferian and consists of 100 different trees, with different blooming time throughout the year.
“Despite being displaced, the Armenian community is determined,” said mayor Frank Scarpitti.
“The next generation of Armenians will be just as proud as the first Armenians who came to Canada. That’s a wonderful thing.”
Earlier this week, the Armenian community celebrated the 25-year anniversary of Armenian independence.
