Issue link: http://digital.canadawide.com/i/423872
W ith completion approach- ing for new Toronto land- marks such as the Union Station atrium and Ryerson University's Student Learning Centre (co-designed with Snøhetta), the last thing one would expect from Zeidler Partnership Architects is that its princi- pals would be concerned with stepping out of someone's shadow. After all, the company is an icon in its own right. Since opening its Toronto head office in 1956, it has presided over a multitude of high-profile devel- opments, including the Toronto Eaton Centre, Ontario Place and Vancouver's Canada Place. With origins in Peterbor- ough in 1880, it's the longest continually running architectural firm in Ontario. Moreover, senior partners Tarek El-Khatib and Vaidila Banelis can point to 140-plus Canadian and international awards that ref lect the company's lofty status – the most recent being an Ontario Association of Architects Award of Design Excellence for the Assuta Med- ical Center in Tel Aviv, which, in a typi- cal display of "big picture" thinking, the partners conceived as a healing village. However, mention Union Station and other current developments to El- Khatib, and the soft-spoken architect remarks, "We consider this to be a sec- ond generation of work that reflects our values and capabilities. It was tough to step out of the shadow and be valued on our own terms, but we feel we've achieved that goal." The shadow the par tners have emerged from is a giant one: that of Zeidler Partnership Architects co- founder Eberhard Zeidler. Zeidler was a mighty creative force: Eaton Centre, Ontario Place and Canada Place as well as Toronto's Queen's Quay Terminal and McMaster University's Health Sciences Centre are indelibly associated with the veteran architect. Although Zeidler stepped back from active involvement in the firm in 2008, his influence is such that today El-Khatib, 57, sometimes refers to Zeidler's voluminous portfolio as belonging either to "the Zeidler era" or "post-Zeidler." But if the process of escaping Zeidler's long shadow has been chal- lenging, it's an effort that El-Khatib has thoroughly appreciated. "I was raised in Beirut and immigrated to Canada in 1976, and immediately after graduat- ing the University of Toronto in 1983, Eb asked me to work with him. I've been here ever since, and whether that's a mark of loyalty or being a chicken, I haven't fully decided," he jokes. El-Khatib has many fond memories of his mentorship, and of the first time he felt he was truly coming into his own as an architect. "The second building I ever worked on was the Ontario Pavilion for Expo 86 in Vancouver," he recalls. "Eb gave me a lot of latitude, and I ate and slept that project. It was a terrific feel- ing as a young man to be shown such respect from a master." El-Khatib pauses to summarize his recollections: "Eb was a father figure to us, and we wouldn't be here today with- out him," he says. "But everyone should evolve beyond their parents." It could be argued that "post-Zeidler" Zeidler is a substantially different com- pany than past generations of clients were acquainted with, and the partners' inclusive approach to business serves several purposes, first and foremost allowing 200 professionals to achieve a goal that is elusive to a large firm: stay- ing true to a unified vision. Union Station is an excellent example of "post-Zeidler" zeitgeist. The design is stark, minimalist and unforgettable; a 71,000-square-foot transparent glass roof that seemingly f loats over the tracks, elevated by slender steel col- umns whose dynamic angles suggest the motion of the trains below. As is typical with Zeidler, beyond the visual splendor are layers of com- plexity: photovoltaic panels to gener- ate solar energy; curtains of suspended glass louvres to repel rain and snow; and innovative connections to the Left: Mount Allison University, Purdy Crawford Centre for the Arts, Sackville, New Brunswick. Above: GO Transit Union Station, Toronto, ON. Tom arban december 2014 /9 Zeidler Partnership Architects