All Members:
Unfortunately, due to reasons beyond our control, the Creative Urban Design afternoon workshop held by Nicholas Chu has been cancelled and will be replaced by another informative workshop, Heritage Planning Practices in the City of Guelph held by Douglas McGlynn and Stephen Robinson. Below is a description of the workshop and a biography of the two speakers. Again, it is going to be an extremely fun and informative day and I look forward to seeing everyone there.
Workshop Description
As planning practices turn their attention away from urban sprawl to re-intensification of downtown cores, there is increasing pressure on heritage buildings and cultural heritage landscapes to become viable development sites. Although heritage is often regarded as the opponent to development, sensitive architectural design and good urban planning can not only help to preserve heritage in line with new development, it can sometimes enhance the outcome by combining old and new. As we know, technology in the form of software applications, mapping, surveying and building materials are changing the way we see new development but how can the advances in technology help us to re-evaluate our perceptions about heritage and its future within the development and urban design ideology of regenerating the City’s downtown? Can technology help to mend the bridge between development and heritage? How do other countries approach the increasing demand on heritage property for re-development? Douglas’s presentation will look at how the changing face of Scottish heritage principles, how ‘new’ technology is being used to bring heritage into the 21st century and how this can help to guide development for the future.
Planning as a team sport and heritage conservation is an important aspect of the municipal planning approval process. A heritage planner plays a position in the planning staff team that supports and influences the work of many other service areas of city staff. The progressive heritage planner is not just a historian or conservator of buildings. Like any other planner, a heritage planner needs to have an understanding of, access to and facility with, practical inventory and mapping tools in order to keep track of the thousands of cultural heritage resources contained (and often hidden) within a municipality. Stephen Robinson will draw on his experiences as a co-author of the City of Brantford’s Heritage Inventory, as a GIS power user at the City of Vaughan and as the Senior Heritage Planner for the City of Guelph to discuss how far heritage planning practices have come and how much more is possible through a team approach.
Stephen Robinson holds a M.A. in Canadian Art & Architectural History (Concordia University), a Certificate in Heritage Planning (University of Waterloo) and is a Professional Member of the Canadian Association of Heritage Professionals (CAHP). Stephen has practiced in the field of heritage planning since 2001 in municipal planning departments and as a private heritage planning consultant. As the Senior Heritage Planner at the City of Guelph since 2009, Stephen has been the City’s staff resource for matters relating the Ontario Heritage Act, built heritage resources, cultural heritage landscapes, archaeological resources and matters related to cultural heritage resource management. Stephen provides research, policy and technical advice on heritage retention and conservation initiatives in the development of City policy and architectural/site design recommendations concerning the conservation of cultural heritage resources in the development application process. His duties include the implementation and management of projects such as heritage conservation district studies and plans as well as the maintenance of the City of Guelph’s Municipal Register of Cultural Heritage Properties and the management of heritage review and heritage permit application processes. The Senior Heritage Planner acts as staff liaison to Heritage Guelph the City’s municipal heritage committee and assists in the administration and implementation of the committee’s work plan.
Douglas McGlynn, MA BA Hons BSc(Arch) – Heritage Research Assistant and Planning Technician at the City of Guelph. Although new to his positions with the City of Guelph, Douglas is not a newcomer to heritage or architecture. Douglas has designed and built over 60 private residences throughout North America and has been involved with heritage in both the private and public sector. He has used 3-D modeling for Heritage Impact Assessments, Visual Impact Assessments and Conservation Plans lending his knowledge of architecture to help emphasize the importance heritage has in the development field. Douglas has a degree in architecture from the University of Dundee, Scotland and a Masters and Bachelor’s degree in history from the University of Western Ontario. He is a member of the Canadian Association of Heritage Professionals, the Royal Institute of Architects in Scotland and a student member of the Ontario Professional Planners Institute and Canadian Institute of Planners.
Regards,
George.
George T. Zajac, CPT, MCIP, RPP
Executive Director, CACPT