John MacDonald Architect

We are looking forward to once again participating in Jane’s Walk Waterloo Region.

Jane’s Walks are citizen-led walking tours that make space for people to observe, reflect, share, question and collectively reimagine the places in which they live, work and play. The calendar of local walks is filling up, with a wide assortment planned for Kitchener, Waterloo and Cambridge.

Presenting the 10th clue of the JMA Architectural Scavenger Hunt. The first to respond correctly identifying the building wins a prize from Matter of Taste, or Four All Ice Cream. Your choice! You'll just have to drop by our office to pick up your prize and say hello.

We are happy to announce that the winner of the last month's JMA Architectural Scavenger Hunt is..... Paul Lucier who was the first to identify the May clue: the paramedic services station at Weber St. West and Water St. North in Kitchener.

Completed in 2014, this small station with just one bay, fits two ambulances, parked in tandem. These stations have highly standardized operational components, consistent with other stations around the Region of Waterloo. This particular station had to also comply with City of Kitchener regulations for downtown urban development. This produced the concrete storefront façade addressing Weber Street and a front door entrance facing Water St. The various functions within the building were expressed with volumes in different textures, colours and materials. Given how compact the whole building had to be, visually it evolved into something akin to a wood brain teaser puzzle.

We’d like to thank all of the new and familiar faces who attended our Jane’s Walks this past weekend. We were pleased to be part of a full and diverse line-up of walks around Waterloo Region.

Photos are from the Lakeside / Southdale Urban Park walk. Those who attended were in agreement that this local network of parks has a lot of potential, particularly with upgrades that could be implemented at Mausser, Meinzinger and Concordia Parks, such as new amenities (multi-sport courts, lighting, seating, trees, pavilion), signage, paths and inter-connectivity between parks and the surrounding community. Also, it was nice to see the new pedestrian bridge across 7/8 unexpectedly and conveniently opening to the public as we arrived.