UG Library: Roger du Toit Fonds

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Roger du Toit Architects Fonds

Windward Housing Co-Op, Toronto, 1987

Roger du Toit was born in Cape Town, South Africa, in 1939. He received a Bachelor of Architecture from the University of Cape Town in 1963. In 1966, he received a Master of Architecture from the University of Toronto. After moving to Toronto, he joined John Andrews Architects, becoming a partner in 1970. The firm John Andrews International/Roger du Toit was established in 1973. He then began a firm under his own name and remains Principal of Roger du Toit Architects Limited. In 1985, du Toit partnered with Robert Allsopp and John Hillier to form du Toit, Allsopp, Hillier.

Roger du Toit is an architect, landscape architect, and planner with international experience. The fundamental principle in his work is the integration of the major design disciplines to create adaptive environments and to provide spaces that are socially responsive. He has led design teams for new and renovated office and retail buildings, housing at all scales, academic buildings, long-term care facilities, and the adaptive re-use of heritage properties. He has prepared master plans for several new or revitalized communities, transportation networks, waterfronts, university campuses, and urban centres, notably the Canada's Parliamentary Precinct in the National Capital Region, Ottawa.

Belleville,Ontario, downtown revitalization, 1979-80 [JPG 23kb]

Belleville, Ontario, revitalization, c.1979-80

His work has been recognized by the Canadian Society of Landscape Architects, the City of Toronto Architecture and Urban Design Awards, and the American Institute of Architects, Citation for Excellence in Urban Design for the Parliamentary Precinct Plan, National Capital, 1991. He is a Fellow of the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada. The University of Guelph library holds more than two hundred of his firm's projects.

The second partner at DTAH is Robert Allsopp, a landscape architect, planner, and architect with experience in the public and private sector, especially multi-dimensional planning/urban design projects. He has been a partner at DTAH since 1985. His work to protect and manage growth around important national symbols is especially important, notably the Ceremonial Routes urban design plan, the long-range development plan for the Parliamentary Precinct area, and the Ottawa Official Plan studies. He is involved in numerous major projects at DTAH, including Toronto’s Central Waterfront and Railway Lands Blocks. In 2008, Robert Allsopp was recognized with the Ontario Association of Landscape Architects Pinnacle Award for a body of work demonstrating outstanding professional accomplishment.

The third partner at DTAH is John Hillier, a landscape architect with experience in urban design and planning. He has received awards from the Canadian Society of Landscape Architects, and he became a Fellow of the CSLA in 2003. His institutional experience includes landscape design and campus master plans for several universities, such as the University of Ontario Institute of Technology, the University of British Columbia, and Queen’s University. His considerable urban design work includes: the landscape heritage plan for the Gooderham and Worts Distillery, Toronto; the reconstruction concept for the National War Memorial at Confederation Square, Ottawa; and the urban design for the Ottawa Light Rail Transit Environmental Assessment.

Drawing for Caledon Ski Village, Ontario, c. 1979-80 [JPG 23kb]

Caldeon Village Ski project drawing, c.1979-80

The entire Roger du Toit Architects fonds is currently being catalogued in the University of Guelph Library's electronic catalogue, PRIMO, on an accrual basis. The fonds consists of architectural drawings and textual documents acquired by the library in several deposits following 2000. The library's holdings can be viewed in brief and full descriptions. Full records include project names and dates, format and quantity of materials, clients and related persons, and a brief description of the contents. The library's call number indicates the location of the records.