Brian Marshall, Author at Niagara Now

Arch-i-text: Let’s get creative

Spurred by the housing crisis that has fully blossomed over the past few years, during the last couple of weeks I have attempted to present an argument for a co-ordinated address based on

Arch-i-text: Rebuilding community with affordable homes

Far too often when the term “affordable housing” is used, our minds draw an equivalent to the subsidized housing projects that proliferated across this province during the third quarter of the 20th century.

Arch-i-text: An old solution to the housing quandary

Housing Quandary As I was listening to talk radio one day last week, I heard a caller state: “I’m 33 years old and make $130K per year. I have been looking to purchase

Arch-i-text: A new face for King Street?

The streetscapes of a town are the images one conjures from our memory. They evolve over time as new buildings are constructed beside older structures, each a reflection of societal change. The most

Arch-i-text: A living landscape

What makes a town like Niagara-on-the-Lake special for both those who live here and the visitors who flock here annually? Further, why has it been often described as the “prettiest town in Canada?”

Arch-i-text: Following a new vision

Good architecture is the expression of an artistic vision. And similar to art, from hyper-realism to expressional abstract, the field of creative expression in architecture is evolutionary and its success or failure devolves

Arch-i-text: The case for rehabilitation

In the built-heritage field the term “rehabilitation” is generally a reference to work performed on a historic house which returns the dwelling to a useful state by means of repair, modification or alteration.

Arch-i-text: On development, integration and saving trees

When speaking to designing and the landscape, the eminent Canadian architect Ron Thom said, “There are three choices: destroy, alter or integrate. The first option is the one invariably chosen by subdivision developers

Arch-i-text: The question of preservation

I freely admit to having a passion for collecting thoughts, ideas and concepts expressed in the written word. I delight in reading and periodically rereading particularly insightful books and articles contained within a

Arch-i-text: Demolition by neglect in NOTL

In last week’s column I wrote about the Secord-Paxton house in St. Davids. This historic house, now owned by a developer, is being allowed to slowly deteriorate to a point where it will be

Arch-i-text: Touring around St. Davids

It is a bit of a challenge for me to write about St. Davids in the context of this column since in recent years this village has come to typify what can happen

Arch-i-text: A stroll around Queenston

Having strolled the streets in the village last week, let’s take a look at some of the residences along the Niagara River Parkway and York Road in the vicinity of Queenston. We’ll begin with

Arch-i-text: Heritage treasures in Queenston

Queenston was not always the quiet little village we’re familiar with today. Settled principally by Loyalists in the last quarter of the 1700s, it served as the northern terminus for the overland transportation

Arch-i-text: Another casualty?

My original intent for this week’s column was to continue the “walk-around series” I had begun with Virgil, shifting it over to the village of Queenston. In fact, on the weekend, I drove

Arch-i-text: Out and about around Virgil

Last week’s column suggested that other survivors of Virgil’s built heritage could be found off Niagara Stone Road. Following up on this, let’s visit a few of these historic homes. We begin by

Arch-i-text: Take a little walk in Virgil

The subject of last week’s column centred around Virgil and highlighted a couple of houses lost from the heritage of that village. I went on to suggest there were historic “survivors” still standing. To

Arch-i-text: There’s a lesson here

When thinking of Niagara-on-the-Lake many people focus on historic Old Town as the “jewel in the crown” while consigning the majority of the jurisdiction to a distant also-ran status. This is nothing new. In

Arch-i-text: How we got here

Towns evolve over time and their architecture (both residential and commercial) tends to reflect, in part, the cycles of changing economic conditions. During boom periods, larger, more impressive buildings were constructed. But when the

Arch-i-text: Understanding New Traditional design

In several of my past columns, most recently in my series on infill builds, I referred to the New Traditional school of design. However, I have really not elaborated on the approach this

Arch-i-text: Ghosts and the loss of heritage buildings

There is no question that the War of 1812 destroyed much of the town’s original built architecture. Many fine buildings were put to the torch and burned to the ground. Imagine if Robert Kerr’s

FUTURE VISION: Part 2: Old hospital could be reimagined as a multi-use ‘live-work’ facility

Why is it that Canadians must always attempt to put everything into nice, neat little boxes? The need to categorize seems to be part of our national condition. Unfortunately, this predilection limits our

Arch-i-text: Fire and its history of destruction

Over the course of history, I suspect fire has destroyed more human-built structures than any other calamity. One would think, with the advances in building technology that our species may have focused more

Arch-i-text: It’s all in the details

I'm the first one to admit I’m OCD about realizing the finest expression of a heritage building which, typically, is how it would have appeared when first completed. I think the goal of

Arch-i-text: Infill design and privacy

In last week’s column we reviewed a number of considerations related to context being fundamental in developing good residential infill design. Height, massing, topography, setback patterning, establishing open space and preserving lines of

Arch-i-text: A checklist for infill design

So you’d like to build a dream house as an infill within an established neighbourhood. Where do you start? It should not begin with acquiring a lot, unless, of course, you are completely open

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