Continuing our visit with the finalists of Block 2, today let us look at Provencher_Roy.

Provencher_Roy was founded in 1983 by Claude Provencher and Michel Roy. Provencher_Roy is an award-winning architecture firm based in Montréal. They have a broad interest in all sizes of structures. They are conscious of interior design, urban design, urban planning, landscape architecture, industrial design, and sustainable development. Their plans are well thought out to provide the best experience for all involved.

In their own words: “Our practice is at the crossroads of architecture and urban planning, characterized by an approach inspired by the physical, cultural, geographical, historical, economical, and tangible and intangible heritage constraints particular to each site. We analyze this heritage over the years drawing on the implicit and explicit potential necessary to transform each setting into a space that supports collective well-being.”


Aux-Couleurs-du-Savoir Elementary School
2015, Saint-Jérôme




George Brown College: The Arbour
2018, Toronto




Îlot Balmoral
2019, Montréal




Reception Pavilion – Parcours Gouin
2019, Montréal




Samuel de Champlain Bridge
2019, Brossard




Îlot Bennett
2020, Montréal




Montreal Heart Institute
2021, Montréal




Scholars House, McGill Campus
2021, Montréal

Founded by Ed Zeidler (1926-2022), Zeidler architecture is a Canadian architecture firm. Zeidler created such iconic locations as the Toronto Eaton Centre, Ontario Place, and the Toronto Centre for the Arts. The firm is committed to creating a collaborative approach with considerations to sustainability and accessibility. They are the recipients of many awards. They are currently finalists for Block 2 as featured a couple of weeks ago.


The Bow
Calagary, Alberta




Le Marchand, Dalhousie University
Halifax, Nova Scotia




Livmore Highpark
Toronto, Ontario




The Residences at RCMI
Toronto, Ontario




Calgary City Centre
Calgary, Alberta




Bowness High School Modernization
Calgary, Alberta




Student Learning Centre
Toronto, Ontario




Sherbourne Estates
Toronto, Ontario




Cummings Library and Collaboratory Mohawk College
Hamilton, Ontario




2 Queen Street West
Toronto, Ontario

James Hoban was an Irish architect (1755-1831). His most important project is The White House. At first a wheelwright and carpenter he then studied at the Dublin Society’s Drawing School. He studied under Thomas Ivory. In 1785 he emigrated to the United States, Philadelphia more precisely. While he was in South Carolina George Washington saw Hoban’s Charleston County Courthouse at which point he was asked to design The White House.


Belcamp House
1785, Dublin, Ireland




South Carolina State House
1790, Columbia, South Carolina




Charleston County Courthouse
1792, Chesterton, South Carolina




First Bank of the United States
1795, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania




The White House
1800, Washington, DC




The Octagon House
1799, New York Avenue, Washington, DC

I loved exploring the architects of the Federal Period in the United States but today something more current more local: Block 2 on Wellington Stree. [Read more…]

John Holden Greene (1777-1850) was a noted early nineteenth-century architect practicing in Providence, Rhode Island. He specialized in the Federal Style architecture. Many of his buildings are still standing. Born in Warwick, Rhode Island. He apprenticed with Caleb Ormsbee. Many apprenticed with him including James C. Bucklin.


Cathedral of St John
1810, Providence, Rhode Island




House of Benjamin Franklin
1816. Providence, Rhode Island




Briston County Courthouse
1818, Bristol, Rhode Island




First Unitarian Church
1818, Providence, Rhode Island




Independant Presbyterian Church
1819, Savannah, Georgia




Middle School Moses Brown School
1819, Providence, Rhode Island

House for Rober S Burrough
1821, Providence, Rhode Island




Allendale Mill North
1822, Providence, Rhode island




Franklin House
1824, Providence, Rhode Island




House for Thomas Whitaker
1824, Providence, Rhode Island




House for Daniel Arnold
1826, Providence, Rhode Island

Dexter Asylum
1828, Providence, Rhode Island




House for Benoni Cooke
1828, Providence, Rhode Island

Continuing the exploration of early American architects, today we take a look at Charles Bulfinch. Bulfinch was born in 1763 in Boston. He studied at the Boston Latin School and Harvard University. Subsequent to that, he did a grand tour of Europe, something that was very popular at that time. You may remember that Sir Robert Smirke as well as Sir John Soane had done the grand tour as well. Bulfinch had a remarkable career-building many private homes, churches, and official buildings. [Read more…]

Asher Benjamin was an American architect. He was born in 1773 in Hartland, Connecticut. Benjamin was a proponent of the Federal Style. He was an alderman in Boston. He is remembered for creating pattern books, books still available in bookstores. These pattern books were the first to bring architectural history, style, and geometry to builders in the field. His drawings were adapted from Great Britain to better suit New England. They provided details such as full house plans, including such details as circular staircases, doorways, fireplace mantels, dormer windows, pilasters, balusters and fences.

Architectural historian Talbot Hamlin writes: “…he, more than any other person is responsible for the character we roughly call ‘Late Colonial’; his moldings, his doors and windows, and his mantels and cornices decorate or at least inspire the decorations of numberless houses up and down the New England coast and in the New England river valleys.”


Leavitt Hovey House now Greenfield Public Library
1797, Greenfield, Massachusetts




First Deerfield Academy now Memorial Hall
1798, Deerfield, Massachusets




Old South Congregational Church
1798, Windsor, Vermont




Charles Street Meeting
1804, Boston, Massachusets




Old West Church
1806, Boston, Massachusets




Headquarters House
54-55 Beacon Street
1808, Boston, Massachusetts




First Parish Church
1809, Ashby, Massachusetts




Centre Church on the Green
1814, New Haven, Connecticut




Town House
1825, Peterborough, New Hampshire




Unitarian Church
1825, Peterborough, New Hampshire




Unitarian Church
1827, Nashua, New Hampshire




70-75 Beacon Street
1828, Boston, Massachussets




Asa Waters Mansion
1832, Millbury, Massachusetts