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Bridgepoint Health Administration Centre, Toronto, ON St. Lawrence College Brockville Campus Library, Brockville, ON King Township Administration Centre, King City, ON Ontario Legislative Building at Queens Park, Toronto, ON D E C E M B E R 2 0 2 2 | 7 +VG Architects P H OTO G R A P H Y BY DAV I D L A S K ER ; B EN R A H N /A- F R A M E; J A N I C E C H U N G The council decided to take a chance. Although it wasn't an easy feat (far from it), Ventin succeeded and gained notoriety for his progressive approach. It was the springboard that +VG needed. Since that time, the firm has done hundreds of revitalizations of municipal buildings throughout Ontario. This has opened the door for +VG to become specialists in other, rather unusual and challenging fields, including the revi- talization of jails. "As people moved out of the old historic jails and into new facilities, these buildings were left empty, an approach known as 'demolition by neglect.' The designs of the old jails were inhumane and challenging, but we take those and turn them into beautiful city halls, museums, galleries and, often, combi- nations of these building types," explains Sapounzi, who has been with the firm for 32 years. Stunning examples include the 1860s' Renaissance Revival-style Old Don Jail, today known as the Bridgepoint Health Administration Centre – a "smart- building" modernization for a contemporary hospital administration within a historic building and landscape. Another great example is Oxford County's former jail, which became the county's public-health building. "We've become known as experts on how to convert dreary jails into exciting environments," laughs Sapounzi. The skill that the now 70-strong team at +VG has developed in not just this area, but all aspects of the adaptive re-use of heritage buildings, is incredibly admirable. But it doesn't stop there. Today, +VG gets involved in everything from educational and cultural projects to recreational and residential projects. Their portfolio is vast: from the Ontario Legislative Building at Queens Park (which put the firm well and truly on the map with their practical and func- tional approach) to the Niagara Parks Power Station, an adaptive-reuse project. "That one is particularly important to me, because prior to joining +VG, I was involved in a study for Niagara Parks. When I joined +VG, I continued pursu- ing those clients as my mission has always been to convert those stations into cultural-immersion facilities. We would do it the same way that we converted jails, but in a crazy location on the precipice of the falls," says Sapounzi. That persistence paid off, and the result is striking. It would be remiss not to delve a little into Sapounzi's own pathway to +VG – not only because of his own amazing achievements (winner of 44 design awards and a member of the prestigious College of Fellows of the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada), but because he is so humble and kind in the manner in which he speaks of the former owners and his commitment to keep their legacy alive. "I was a student at the University of Waterloo, and I had been roped into trying to save a historic furniture factory building. That's when I met Carlos. He started treating me like his employee right away," says Sapounzi. "Carlos was like a second father to me and one of my best friends in life. He was quite the character. He had an aeroplane, and we flew everywhere looking at these buildings from the sky. When he retired I started running the firm, and, sadly, in 2013 he passed away. I use a lot of the lessons he taught me – like nurturing projects even before the RFP begins – to support smaller communities. I feel that Carlos still lives in the company." At the centre of everything Sapounzi speaks about, and the work at +VG, there is a real sense of love: love for the people in the firm (current and past); love for the clients; love for the skilled workers in the industry; and a true love for mak- ing a tremendous difference to architecture. Long before topics such as reducing carbon from existing buildings, adaptive re-use, human-centric design, and the health and wellness of buildings was a consideration, +VG was working on these very topics, because "it was the right thing to do." They were never afraid to push boundaries for the greater good, no matter how crazy people thought they were, and that continues to this day. Today the firm has studios in Ottawa, Brantford, and Toronto with employees living throughout Ontario and beyond working as one integrated team. Dan Wojcik manages Ottawa with Travis Forrest managing Brantford and Chris Hall managing Toronto. And so, having predicted all those years ago how the world of architecture would turn out today, we turn to Sapounzi to better understand how he thinks the future will unfold. "The ethical framework is changing. Over the past 30 years there have been many unnecessarily expensive projects built that are very self-serving. I believe that collectively we're going to look back on that with a little bit of shame. We missed a lot of opportunities to create good people places. There will be a universal awareness that we need to build safe and affordable spaces that are healthy and will last for generations, and be adaptable to what- ever gets thrown our way. And how do we do we that without somebody losing their job?" A

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