Rockwood Academy

Nominated for the Peter Stokes Restoration Award: Large-Scale/Team/Corporate

Giaimo was engaged by the Ontario Heritage Trust to lead a heritage conservation consultant team to undertake capital and maintenance work for the stewardship of Rockwood Academy. Constructed in 1853, the property includes a Georgian-style three-storey stone building with expansive rural grounds and several outbuildings. Rockwood Academy is a provincial heritage property of provincial significance under Part III.1 of the Ontario Heritage Act, and is particularly significant due to its association with early education in Upper Canada and with the arts.

From 2023-24, Giaimo has overseen the building envelope conservation and structural rehabilitation at Rockwood Academy. Conservation work includes the restoration of the roofing and chimney, masonry and mortar joints, all surface deterioration and mismatching of mortars, foundations, doors, windows, porches, stairs, and railings. Further work includes upgraded electrical systems, and a new electric-based heating system, eliminating the building’s reliance on combustion and fossil fuels.

The rehabilitation of Rockwood Academy, one of the cultural heritage properties owned by the Trust, will support future adaptive reuse. The building has an interesting history of adaptive reuse already, at one point being used as a woolen mill, then farmhouse. In the 1960s, sculptor Yosef Drenters purchased the property and restored it as an artist live-work space. In 1978, the Trust entered into a property easement agreement, and property ownership was eventually transferred to the Trust in 1986. The conservation approach embraces this evolution, and works towards maintaining the artistic additions that were made overtime while undertaking the necessary rehabilitation work to stabilize the building.

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