Brook McIlroy
161 Spadina Avenue, Suite 200 M5V 2L6 Toronto, ON, Canada

Are you missing art galleries over the holidays? The McMichael Art Gallery is hosting virtual tours of Christi Belcourt's powerful exhibition, "Uprising: the Power of Mother Earth" (with Isaac Murdoch). Check their website for details, and be sure to follow Christi Belcourt and Isaac Murdoch on social media to learn more about these extraordinary artists' art and activism. https://mcmichael.com/event/indigenous-tour/

Our 20th year presented unusual challenges, and we are grateful to all our friends, clients, colleagues, and most of all, our talented staff, for adapting to new circumstances with courage and positivity. Happy holidays from our homes to yours, and all the best for 2021!

Are you a student, staff, faculty, or a member of the community of the Memorial University of Newfoundland? We are working with the University on an update to the Campus Master Plan and want to hear from you on the project and its goals. The Campus Master Plan will establish a long-term vision for buildings and open space for the St. John's and Signal Hill campuses, and will help the University set priorities for future campus improvements. This will affect the look and feel of the campus and its connections with the surrounding city. We are also asking the Indigenous community for ideas and input to inform the project. Please visit our Bang the Table site and see the many ways you can be engagedeven during the pandemic! https://campusmasterplanmemorial.com/

Rainbow Butterfly will be a Red Dress Warming Hut that will honour the lives and memories of murdered and missing Indigenous women, girls, and Two-Spirit People. The project was commissioned by Collective of Voices, and the design team, led by the Indigenous Design Studio, is composed entirely of Indigenous architects and designers. You'll be able to see it on the ice this winter in Winnipeg on the Red River Mutual Trail! Design team members are Ryan Gorrie (Brook McIlroy), Rachelle Lemieux (Verner Reimer), Danielle Desjarlais (University of Manitoba), and Reanna Merasty (University of Manitoba). Fabrication (and photos) by Wood Anchor. To learn more about the project, its symbolism, and the inspiration behind it, please give a follow to Rainbow Butterfly!

Design for the built environment in Regent Park must be sensitive to a complex historical and cultural context. This paving pattern, part of our landscape architects' work for Block 16s / DuEast, references the shape of towers previously on the site -- a subtle acknowledgement of past erasures in a project that looks to the future.

Want to learn more about green streetscape technologies, and supporting a healthy urban tree canopy? Our landscape architecture team's work on Lakeshore Road in the Town of Oakville was featured as a case study in the DeepRoot blog: https://www.deeproot.com//silva-cells-at-historic-lakeshor

If you have a pulse in The City of Sault Ste. Marie, you should be excited about thisthat was one of the comments from City Council at the presentation on Monday about the design for the upcoming Civic Plaza. Drawing on our experience in other Northern Ontario cities like Thunder Bay and North Bay, the project aspires to create an all-seasons public space in the heart of downtown. Now that it has been endorsed by council, the next step is community consultation. It is being designed for YOU and we want YOUR feedback! Attend one of the virtual consultation sessions tomorrow, October 1st at noon or 7pm, or give your feedback through the city website here: http://saultstemarie.ca/downtownplaza

At the Ontario Professional Planners Institute Conference today, don't miss the 12pm EDT panel and discussion, "Indigenous rights, land and the future of planning in Ontario". The session will cover the legal & constitutional frameworks that have shaped post contact Indigenous histories in Ontario. The panel will feature a mix of established and up-and-coming voices in the profession: Calvin Brook (Principal, Brook McIlroy); Karen Drake (Associate Professor & Associate Dean (Students) at Osgoode Hall Law School); Danny Roy (Planner & Intern Architect, Brook McIlroy); and Jenna Davidson (Environmental Planner, Stantec). Tune in at 12pm and hear what they have to say! https://ontarioplanners.ca//307-indigenous-rights,-land-an

We are honoured that the "City-Wide Urban Design Guidelines" for the City of Vaughan have been recognized with an Award of Excellence by the Canadian Institute of Planners. We look forward to the implementation of the document's guidelines throughout Vaughan, to create a green, sustainable, and liveable city. Check here for the full announcement, as well as a full historical list of CIP-ICU award winners and documentation: http://www.cip-icu.ca//Awards-for-Planning-Excellence-Reci

From books to student work to Indigenous businesses, the Indigenous architects and designers of the Indigenous Design Studio have taken over our Instagram account this week. In celebration of Indigenous Peoples Day this Sunday, please listen to what they have to say: https://www.instagram.com/brookmcilroy/ And thank you to Lenard Monkman of the CBC for this article about our Indigenous architects and designers Ryan, Rachelle, Danielle, and Reanna: https://www.cbc.ca/news/indigenous/lenard-monkman-1.3341974

Tansi (cree), Boozhoo (ojibwe), Aaniim(oji-cree), Hello (english), Bonjour (french), Wotziye (dene), Ho/Han (Dakota), Tanshi (Michif), Sekoh (Mohawk), Asujutilli (inuktituq), Ndio!/ Kwe! (Wendat). In celebration of Indigenous Peoples Day, June 21st, 2020, Brook McIlroy’s social media this week will be taken over by the Indigenous Design Studio. We are Indigenous architects, designers, and student interns who work within the firm's larger resources to focus on projects that su...pport Indigenous community needs. We come from diverse Indigenous backgrounds and traditions, and all take a deep interest in cultural research and the exploration of how Indigenous cultures and innovative sustainable design practices find expression in contemporary place-making. Our work explores land-based teaching, and the way place-making tells connects between form, materials, and embedded artistic expression. Design is a way to strengthen a sense of place and identity, and is a key component of Indigenous cultural discovery and reclamation in an era of post-colonial transformation of what is known today as Canada. Photo description: L to R: Danielle Desjarlais (Architectural Intern - Cree), Rachelle Lemieux (Associate + Architect - Metis), Ryan Gorrie (Senior Associate + Architect - Ojibwe) and Reanna Merasty (Architectural Intern - Cree). Stools by: Indigo Arrows

June is National Indigenous History Month. Please check out the Aboriginal Resource Centre- Humber College page throughout the month, as they will be sharing ways you can celebrate and honour Indigenous Peoples safely at home. For more information on the Indigenous Cultural Markers at Humber College, designed by the Indigenous Design Studio of Brook McIlroy, check out the project page on our website: https://brookmcilroy.com//indigenous-cultural-markers-at-/

Please join us in congratulating Katie Black and Tneshia Pages Innocente in their promotion to the role of Associate. Both have made invaluable contributions to the firm, showing leadership in projects as well as contributing to our day-to-day culture. Katie Black is an Intern Landscape Architect and urban designer who enjoys working at a range of scales to cultivate engaging, resilient and equitable places. She has worked in the field of landscape architecture and urban des...ign for six years. She holds a Master in Landscape Architecture from the University of Pennsylvania and a Bachelor of Environmental Design from the University of Manitoba. Tneshia Pages Innocente is a Planner with a background in planning, urban design, and architecture, who focuses on the intersection of design and policy to create dynamic communities. She has a Master of Planning in Urban Development from Ryerson University and an Honours Bachelor of Arts, Architectural Studies from the University of Toronto.

Celebrate #CanFilmDay with a documentary film about the extraordinary Indigenous design of Collingwood's Awen' Gathering Place. Written and directed by #TraceyS...trnad Thanks to Experience Collingwood the Indigenous design team at Brook McIlroy and the teams at Lafontaine Iron Werks Envision-Tatham Inc. BC Guy Studio #CanFilmDay #Documentary #FilmDay #GatheringCircle

Dear All, Brook McIlroy is taking measures to respond to COVID-19, in accordance with recommendations from local, provincial, and national health authorities to help mitigate transmission in our community. To best serve our clients, we will be closely monitoring project needs and implementing the following measures: 1. Staff will work from home and can be reached by email and telephone 2. Work travel will be limited and we will postpone air travel... 3. Meetings will be conducted via teleconference or web conference We will continue to provide updates and monitor the recommendations made by Public Health officials. If you have any questions or concerns, please reach out to members of Brook McIlroy's Senior Management Team. See more

We're thrilled that the Shoppers Drug Mart Flagship Mass Timber & Heritage Restoration in downtown Toronto has won an Innovation Award from Ontario Wood Works! It was highlighted as "a stunning example of what modern timber building technology can offer". The project was the first mass timber building to pass through the approvals process in the City of Toronto. If you would like to see it for yourself, the Shoppers is open from 8am - midnight daily and is steps from the Yonge & Bloor subway station! Professional photography: Scott Norsworthy

SATURDAY: Calvin Brook and Kateri Lucier-Laboucan from Brook McIlroy, and Sarah Midanik from the Downie Wenjack Fund, will speak to projects which reflect the restoration of Indigenous presence in Canadian communities. Tickets and information: https://www.peclibrary.org//reconcili-action-restoring-in/

Happy holidays from Brook McIlroy! Thank you to all of our friends, clients, colleagues, and staff for a wonderful year.

Brook McIlroy is pleased to announce that the Shoppers Drug Mart Flagship in downtown Toronto, the first mass timber project to be approved by the City of Toronto, has achieved partial occupancy and is now open to shoppers just in time for the holidays! Photography: Scott Norsworthy

We are pleased to announce the following promotions at Brook McIlroy: Principal: Colin Berman Senior Associates: Nathan Flach, Andrea Mantin, Erik Sziraki Associates: Kyle Gatchalian, Tsugumi Kanno, Rachelle Lemieux, Justin Spec... We value the many contributions that each person has made to the firm. Please join us in congratulating our colleagues for this well-earned milestone.