Preserving Dynamism: The Challenge of Funding Heritage Architecture

James Emery became a Principal at Iredale Architecture in 2000, after joining the firm in 1997. His decades of expertise span a wide range of sectors from civic and residential to commercial and urban design. An area that he is particularly passionate about is heritage rehabilitation. As a member of the Canadian Association of Heritage Professionals, James takes a sensitive approach to cultural histories when revitalizing and preserving heritage structures. You can see his work reflected in some of Vancouver’s most iconic structures including the Burrard Bridge, Christ Church Cathedral, and the Exchange Tower.

Working in the Heritage sector is not without its challenges. Prime among these challenges is securing funding for these important yet oft overlooked projects. James is no stranger to this difficulty, it having played a major part in the restoration of Vancouver’s Christ Church Cathedral. Dating back to 1889, this historic monument is a mainstay among Vancouver’s most recognizable architecture. Despite such long-reaching historical roots, conservation efforts for this building required creative solutions to acquire the necessary funds, including a 20-year phasing program coupled with intense capital campaigns.

When asked if he could pinpoint why heritage projects in particular may face these financial barriers, James notes that "for developers, heritage stock is not normally seen as an asset, since it can be limiting to the full development potential of a site." He further adds that "for municipalities with many different priorities, it can be hard to argue the case for funding heritage conservation projects unless there is a compelling civic case for investing in these structures." Further to these limitations, he notes that heritage structures can often be seen as "cost prohibitive" when the goal is to rehabilitate them into functional, context-appropriate spaces, and that many of the funding opportunities for these spaces have become "dated and do not reflect current financial realities."?

These challenges have not deterred James from taking on these complex projects. Detailing what brought him to and kept him in this challenging sector, James recounts:

“This errs toward generalization, but it used to be more about the bricks and mortar than the cultural relevance of the heritage fabric. I think this limited how heritage structures were valued, since the focus was more on preserving the physical element than how we might use a structure in a new way that acknowledges its physicality whilst building on its cultural heritage to make something new. I think it is this latter part that I find quite compelling and why I am interested in pushing to find ways of incorporating the heritage fabric into the next generation.”

Expanding on why pushing the boundaries of what it means to conserve cultural spaces appeals to him, he gives an answer that we should all think deeply about. For James, "The physical manifestation of a place provides commentary on materials, construction methods, and aesthetic choices of the time, but can be quite static. Weaving in the stories that were a part of the life of that place allows one to consider the stories to come and how this place might continue to be part of them. There is excitement in this approach, since it is not static but dynamic. It breathes life into that which is past and can link it to that which is to come."