Jill Taylor co-founded Taylor Hazell Architects (THA) with Charles Hazell in 1992. The firm relocated to the Junction in November 2021, after purchasing and renovating the landmark William Speers Building at 2928 Dundas Street West.
Jill’s talk will be about the inspiration for her work, the importance of interdisciplinarity and humanities in architecture, and the firm’s hopes for activism in heritage preservation in the Toronto West Junction.
Jill has been an architect since 1991, with a specialization in in the heritage field, as a courthouse designer, a designer of educational and cultural institutions, and in facility planning and programming. Prior to private practice she worked for the Ontario Heritage Trust. She is a highly regarded member of the heritage conservation field, and has served as Chair of ICOMOS Canada Committees, Chair of the Conservation Review Board of Ontario, President of the Canadian Association of Heritage Professionals, and served on committees related to government policy including on the Ontario Building Code. She has lectured for the National Trust, RAIC, Ontario Association of Architects, at international round tables and at the college and university level on issues of heritage, sustainability and accessibility.
Prior to architecture, Jill studied Art History and Literature at the University of Toronto; she is a graduate of U of T, where she studied from 1976- 1982.
Jill believes that the future of our land, water, cities and towns depends on urgent action now to sustain the valued natural and built environment.
She has worked on heritage projects across Ontario that have integrated pure conservation of interior and exteriors of buildings with the adaptive reuse of spaces for modern use. She has a deep regard for the work of past architects, crafts people and labourers, and sees the imperative of sustaining good materials and techniques as a path to understanding a sustainable world. She is also an advocate of accessibility to heritage places, and facing the challenges that alteration within a heritage environment means for just access for all. Projects of note include, the Osgoode Hall Courthouse and Toronto Courthouse, Dundurn Castle and Conference Centre, the Humber College, Humber Arboretum, Jones Avenue School Reconstruction and York Memorial Collegiate Institute Reconstruction, and the Legislative Assembly of Ontario. She was a co-author of the City of Toronto Official Plan, Heritage Section 3.1.5.
She is proud of an award-winning video available on the THA website called, Rolling with Rollo, a short documentary on barriers to access. www.taylorhazell.com.
AFFILIATIONS OAA, MAA, FRAIC, CAHP, LEED ® AP
