Edgar Tumak
A History of Canadian Architecture, Vol. 2
Author: Harold Kalman
Research Assistant: Edgar Tumak
Project: To provide research material to the author for 20th century Canadian architectural history and planning including: domestic architecture, town planning, northern Canada, architecture between the World Wars, and contemporary architecture. The two volume text is the definitive history of architecture in Canada.
Rockliffe Park: A History of the Village, by Martha Edmond
Edgar assisted with the research and provided photographic assistance to the author and the photographer (Dr. Poy, brother of then Governor General Adrienne Clarkson) for this elite area of Ottawa, an heritage conservation district, that includes Rideau Hall (residence of the Governor General), the majority of ambassadorial residences in the capital, architectural masterpieces, and the homes of financial and social leaders of Ottawa.
The Birkbeck Building - Ontario Heritage Foundation Headquarters
8-10 Adelaide Street East
Toronto ON
Architect: George W. Gouinlock, constructed 1907-08
Edgar provided historical research for designer Richard Raycraft (previously of the Canadian Official Residences) to adapt the former main banking hall as a rental and meeting facility in a manner that would suggest the original interior when it was an investment and savings company (as opposed to a conventional bank). Prior to this, the exact configuration of entrances, floor plan and even finishing materials were not known even though it was the subject of two prior heritage reports. To achieve this, Edgar Tumak not only used standard architectural references, but his abilities in site analysis, and knowledge of a wide variety of journals (including construction trades), as well as having a significant reference file of architects in Canada.
Ontario Heritage Foundation
