Executive Director

Julian Smith, Willowbank’s Executive Director, is an internationally-recognized architect and conservator with 35 years experience in the heritage field. He began his career in the contemporary field, with Peter Eisenman at the Institute for Architecture and Urbanism in New York City. He returned to Canada in 1976 to pursue his interest in the revitalization of historic places, and eventually became Chief Architect for the National Historic Sites program of Parks Canada. He was responsible not only for the management and development of historic sites within Parks ownership, but also for the development of the Federal Heritage Building Program to address the conservation and adaptive reuse of heritage properties throughout the federal portfolio. 

Julian left Parks Canada in 1987 to establish his own practice, Julian Smith & Associates. This firm has worked on significant cultural sites both in Canada and abroad. Recent projects have included the restoration of the Vimy Memorial in France, the master plan for the Canadian Embassy in the historic Villa Grazioli esate in Rome, the adaptive reuse of the Lister Block in Hamilton, and the management plan for the Central Experimental Farm complex in Ottawa. He is architectural advisor to the Board of Trustees of Queens University, and advisor to the Federal Government on the development of Parliament Hill. He is known internationally for his work on a cultural landscape approach to heritage conservation, and is a Canadian representative to UNESCO’s World Heritage Centre on the drafting of a new International Recommendation on Historic Urban Landscapes.

In 1988 Julian founded the graduate program in Heritage Conservation in the School of Canadian Studies at Carleton University, and coordinated this program for 15 years. He has been a guest lecturer and speaker at many universities and conferences in Canada and abroad. He is a member of the ICOMOS International Committee on Education and Training.

At Willowbank, Julian continues his advisory services on heritage conservation issues to various levels of government and the private sector. He is able to involve Willowbank students in a number of these projects as a way of introducing them to current initiatives and activities in the heritage field. 

Graduate and Student accomplishments

The following are accomplishments while at Willowbank and during the summer intervals or after graduation:

Recent graduate Alex spent the summer of 2009 working for the Fairmont Preservation Trust in Philadelphia, involved in the restoration of Lemon Hill and the Rittenhouse Estate. He then did a fall/winter internship with the Chestnut Hill Window Company, also in Philadephia, where he was responsible for the restoration of historic wood sash and related frames, sills and casings. After graduation, he gained a full-time position with Chestnut Hill Windows, building up their restoration carpentry and joinery focus.

Recent graduate Emily began work in the summer of 2009 on a cultural landscape history of the Halifax Armoury, a landmark 19th Century stone building for which Willowbank’s Julian Smith is conservation consultant. This work then became integrated into design development for a $20million restoration project, and helped steer the project towards a more creative adaptive reuse approach. She was contracted by the federal government to do a more detailed history of the evolution of the Armoury interior, for which she hired second-year student Sydney Martin to develop the graphic material. 

Emily had also spent much of the summer of 2009 working as a stone mason. She was asked by the City of Peterborough to advise on the restoration of their Cenotaph, designed by Walter Allward, and did some temporary repointing for the City with one of their heritage staff as her apprentice. She has recently been hired by Keith Blades, consultant on historic properties and a well-known stone conservation specialist, to do some research work for him related to the original sources of stone for the Parliament Buildings in Toronto.

Recent graduate Elaine was the first recipient of the City of Mississauga’s Betsy Ross Award for heritage volunteers, recognizing her active involvement in the community. As a member of Mississauga’s Municipal Heritage Committee she has challenged the public works department to improve the management of their heritage properties. She has also worked on developing more of a cultural landscape framework in the City. As part of her third-year internship with the City of Oakville, she completed pamphlets for homeowners on local traditions involving stone and stucco, with recommendations for treatment. She has taken a position with the City of Mississauga as the Heritage Coordinator.

Recent graduate Alex started his own construction company, Greenhill Construction. He has done a number of projects for private clients in the Hamilton area, and is working to save the stained glass windows in an area church. He has been working on window conservation and restoration projects with John Wilcox of Toronto, a Willowbank faculty associates who specializes in glassworks, including leaded glass windows of all kinds. 

Recent graduate Leslie is pursuing LEED accreditation in addition to her Willowbank diploma. She developed an analysis and recommendations for the greening of the Willowbank estate, which was presented to the Board in April 2010. She assisted Julian Smith on a proposal for the historic Lansdowne redevelopment scheme in downtown Ottawa. Leslie created her own consulting business Green Street Heritage Consulting focused to green approaches to energy consumption and traditional construction. She is currently the project manager for a 1819 historic property in Niagara-on-the-Lake.

Third-year student Sydney, in addition to her work in Halifax, is investigating the King campus of Seneca College, the historic Eaton estate, in collaboration with Bill Humber of the Revitalization Institute. She has just received a summer internship with ERA Architects, one of Canada’s leading architectural conservation firms.

Third-year student Megan Hobson has been doing archival and on-site research for Julian Smith on a number of Canadian embassy projects abroad. She visited the Official Residence in Tokyo, Japan to document the house and garden, and helped develop a detailed conservation report for this historic property. She was subsequently contracted by the federal government to do more detailed follow-up research. She is currently researching the Canadian High Commission property in Colombo, Sri Lanka, a 19th Century estate converted for use as a Chancery. Megan has also been asked to research a number of historic Niagara-on-the-Lake properties, including the Grand Inn, the Niagara-on-the-Lake golf course, and a potential Secord house.

Graduate Jordan, a stone mason and stone carver, has just been asked to join the masonry firm undertaking restoration work on the Justice Building in Ottawa. This landmark building is part of the Parliamentary Precinct, and Jordan will be starting his full-time work there in late April 2010. 

Graduate Carolyn  has been hired by the developer to be clerk-of-the-works for the $20million adaptive reuse of the Lister Block property in downtown Hamilton. This landmark project involves restoration of the brick and terracotta façade, with some original storefronts, as well as restoration of the interior first and second-floor arcades with their marble and terrazzo floors and decorative plasterwork. She has also been doing consulting work on other major adaptive reuse projects in the Hamilton area. 

Graduate Rosi  is the research historian for the town of Welland, and has been doing consulting work and Heritage Impact Statements for a number of architectural, engineering and archaeological consulting firms in the Toronto area.

Graduate Shelley worked with Julian Smith doing the detailed design drawings for restoration and expansion of the Prime Minister’s residence at 24 Sussex Drive in Ottawa. She has since done design and construction drawings for a number of private clients, and is involved in design development for a major redevelopment project involving an important cultural landscape. An expert in both hand drawing and AutoCAD, she assists in Willowbank’s AutoCAD classes and has become the Project Leader in the summer Documentation Internship Program.