Shore Tilbe Irwin + Partners

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Shore Tilbe Irwin + Partners (STI+P), architects and engineers, is an architectural firm based in Toronto, Canada. Founded in 1945, the firm has completed numerous projects across Canada, as well as in other locations in the United States and Bermuda. The buildings designed have included institutional (for government and education), industrial, recreational (community centres and libraries), and commercial.

[edit] History

The Union Carbide Building, built 1958, was an early example of Modernist architecture in Toronto.

Founded as Shore and Moffat by Leonard Shore and Bob Moffat in 1945, the first project completed was the Meaford Public School in Meaford, Ontario. After the completion of some small-scale residential and commercial projects, the two partners received their first large commission from the Ontario Food Terminal Board in Toronto, in 1947.

By the early 1950s the firm had expanded to take on 10 employees, including Alfred Tilbe. Schools and other educational buildings supplied most of the work, and the firm completed Cannington Collegiate, Goderich Collegiate, Stayner Collegiate, and Collingwood Collegiate. Shore and Moffat designed the York Township Municipal Offices in 1952, which won them the Massey Medal. They also submitted a proposal for the Toronto City Hall international competition, which was ultimately unsuccessful. The later part of the decade brought three significant projects: the William Lyon Mackenzie Building, which was to be the second-largest building in Toronto at the time; the Union Carbide Head Office, and the Imperial Oil Research Centre. The later building won Shore and Moffat another Massey Medal, and launched the firm into the research field, bringing them projects for Petro Canada, Royal Dutch Shell, and Teck Cominco. By 1959 the office had expanded to 40 staff, and was now providing engineering services as well.

In terms of design credentials, the Union Carbide Building was a significant project for the office, built near the intersection of Yonge Street and Eglinton Avenue, it was one of the first corporate headquarters built north of the downtown core. Said of it: "While one may not agree on its historicity, one can't dismiss the fact that the Union Carbide building is unique, both structurally and aesthetically. It was engineered in such a way that its weight is supported entirely by its outside columns; uncluttered by posts, these airy interiors could be easily adapted to different needs... The builders chose to give the building an interesting mix of materials; granite, nickel and stainless steel creating a countenance full of dignity and character. Equally significant was that Union Carbide was one of north Toronto's first major corporate headquarters."^[1] It was demolished in July of 1999, an act lamented by the Toronto Star architecture critic, Christopher Hume.^[2]

In 1960 Bob Moffat died, and the firm was re-branded as Shore and Moffat and Partners, as the number of employees increased to 150. In this period projects included the master plans for the University of Waterloo and the York University campuses, as well as the National Research Science Library and the Alexander Campbell Building in Ottawa. Schools remained a staple source of income, however, into the 1970s demand for their construction was declining, and thus Shore and Moffat turned its focus elsewhere. The partners at the time, Len Shore, Art Henschel and Alf Tilbe, hired Stephen Irwin, appointed him partner, and changed the firm name again to Shore Tilbe Henschel Irwin Architecs and Engineers. After this the office produced the 52 Division Police Station in Toronto, the Xerox Research Centre, and the Kortright Centre.

By the next decade Shore Tilbe Henschel Irwin had begun its long relationship with the YMCA, starting with the organization's facility in North York. Other buildings designed were the H.J.A. Brown Education Centre, the Peel Regional Police Headquarters, and the post-modern Metropolitan Toronto Police Headquarters. Leonard Shore died in 1989, and, as he had no immediate family, the Shore Foundation was created in his memory to assist the University of Toronto, and the L.E. Shore Memorial Library in Thornbury, Ontario.

Model of the University of Toronto at Mississauga Campus Academic Learning Centre, to be completed in 2007

Into the 1990s, two partners retired and Brian Aitken and David Mitchell were brought on board to take their place, and the firm's name again changed to the present Shore Tilbe Irwin + Partners. The scope of work expanded again to include extended care, academic facilities, pharmaceutical laboratories and recreational architecture. During this time the L.E Shore Library was completed, as well as the Mississauga Public Library. However, the firm was seen as coasting on its reputation, failing to provide forward looking design and planning, and faced the danger of becoming simply a drawing production office.^[3]

The new millennium brought about drastic changes within the STI+P's structure and direction, as was deemed necessary to ensure the establishment's survival.^[3] 2000 saw the establishment of Shore Tilbe Irwin + Partner's house interior design department, and in 2002 Andrew Frontini joined the firm as an associate, to become partner in 2005. Under his direction the Whitby Public Library and Civic Square was completed, and was featured in, and on the cover of, Canadian Architect magazine; this project was hailed as marking Shore Tilbe's turing point.^[3] Frontini also designed the Hazel McCallion Academic Learning Centre at the University of Toronto Mississauga Campus. Under other partner D'Arcy Arthurs, the firm saw the completion of the Angus Glen Community Centre in Markham, Ontario, as well as the Health and Wellness Centre at the UofT Mississauga Campus; the former won the National Post/Design Exchange Siver Award in 2005. In joint venture with Sterling Finlayson Architects, STI+P comlpleted the Canadian National Institute for the Blind Headquarters, on Bayview Avenue in Toronto.

Environmental sustainability has became more and more prevalent in STI+P's designs, demonstrated in the greenhouse gas reduction technology used in the Fathom Five National Marine Park/Bruce Peninsula National Park visitors' centre, and the extensive use of glass curtain wall in various projects, to increase interior natural light, thereby cutting down on lighting costs and energy use; the Dalhousie University Kenneth C. Rowe Management Building uses this technique, for example.^[4] The Wellness Centre at the UofT Mississauga Campus also incorporated green roofs, one of which was intended for use by the biology department.

On March 8, 2007, it was announced at Toronto City Hall that STI+P, along with PLANT Architect, had been awarded the $40 million redesign of the iconic Nathan Phillips Square.

[edit] Partners and associates

Partners

• Stephen Irwin
• D'Arcy Arthurs
• Andrew Frontini
• Brian Aitkin
• Stephen Ploeger
• David Mitchell

Associates

• Phil Fenech
• Linda Neumayer
• Duff Balmer
• Alan Mortsch
• Frank Park
• Werner Sommer

[edit] Projects

A gallery of some of STI+P's recent projects:

Purdy's Wharf Halifax, Nova Scotia ??	Angus Glen Community Centre Markham, Ontario 2004	Grimsby Public Library and Art Gallery Grimsby, Ontario 2004	Peterborough Sport and Wellness Centre Peterborough, Ontario 2005
Whitby Public Library and Civic Square Whitby, Ontario 2006	Fathom Five National Marine Park Visitors' Centre Tobermory, Ontario 2006

Brief list of some of STI+P's other projects:

[edit] Awards

[edit] External links

• Shore Tilbe Irwin and Partners
• Canadian Architect article on Shore Tilbe Irwin + Partners and the Whitby Public Library and Civic Square

[edit] Footnotes