page_title: Shore Tilbe Perkins+Will
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Shore Tilbe Perkins+Will / History
caption_attribution_description: English: Cross-harbour view of the towers of Purdy's Wharf, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. A photo I took while on the Metro Transit ferry.
context_page_description: Shore Tilbe Perkins+Will is an architecture firm based in Toronto, Ontario. Since its founding as Shore and Moffat in 1945, and later as Shore Tilbe Irwin + Partners, STI&P completed numerous buildings, complexes, and master plans across Canada, as well as in locations in the United States and Bermuda. From early educational and residential projects, the firm rose to prominence in the early 1950s, winning Governor General's Medals in Architecture and commissions from the government of Ontario for departmental buildings, and went on to design prominent landmarks such as Purdy's Wharf in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and the redesign of Nathan Phillips Square in Toronto. STI+P's scope today mostly encompasses community centres, libraries, pharmaceutical laboratories, and office and university teaching buildings, though the firm has also completed religious spaces, corporate interiors, and public plazas.
context_section_description: Founded as Shore and Moffat by Leonard Shore and Bob Moffat in 1945, the first project completed was the Meaford Public School in Meaford, Ontario. After the completion of some small-scale residential and commercial projects, the two partners received their first large commission from the Ontario Food Terminal Board in Toronto, in 1947.
  By the early 1950s the firm had expanded to take on 10 employees, including Alfred Tilbe.  Schools and other educational buildings supplied most of the work, and the firm completed Brock High School, Goderich Collegiate, Stayner Collegiate, and Collingwood Collegiate.  Shore and Moffat designed the York Township Municipal Offices in 1952, which won them the Massey Medal. They also submitted a proposal for the Toronto City Hall international competition, which was ultimately unsuccessful.  The later part of the decade brought three significant projects: the William Lyon Mackenzie Building, which was to be the second-largest building in Toronto at the time; the Union Carbide Head Office, and the Imperial Oil Research Centre.  The later building won Shore and Moffat another Massey Medal, and launched the firm into the research field, bringing them projects for Petro Canada, Royal Dutch Shell, and Teck Cominco.  By 1959 the office had expanded to 40 staff, and was now providing engineering services as well.
  In terms of design credentials, the Union Carbide Building was a significant project for the office, built near the intersection of Yonge Street and Eglinton Avenue, it was one of the first corporate headquarters built north of the downtown core.  Said of it: "While one may not agree on its historicity, one can't dismiss the fact that the Union Carbide building is unique, both structurally and aesthetically. It was engineered in such a way that its weight is supported entirely by its outside columns; uncluttered by posts, these airy interiors could be easily adapted to different needs. The builders chose to give the building an interesting mix of materials; granite, nickel and stainless steel creating a countenance full of dignity and character. Equally significant was that Union Carbide was one of north Toronto's first major corporate headquarters."  It was demolished in July 1999, an act lamented by the Toronto Star architecture critic, Christopher Hume.
  In 1960 Bob Moffat died, and the firm of 150 was renamed Shore and Moffat and Partners.  Projects included the master plans for the University of Waterloo and the York University campuses, as well as the National Research Science Library and the Alexander Campbell Building in Ottawa.  Schools remained a staple source of income, however, into the 1970s demand for their construction was declining, and thus Shore and Moffat turned its focus elsewhere.  The partners at the time, Len Shore, Art Henschel and Alf Tilbe, hired Stephen Irwin, appointed him partner, and changed the firm name to Shore Tilbe Henschel Irwin Architects and Engineers.  Irwin's designs at this time included 52 Division Police Station in Toronto, the Xerox Research Centre, and the Kortright Centre. Within a few years the firm changed the company name to Shore Tilbe Henschel Irwin and Peters when Dennis Peters was brought aboard as a partner.
  With the award-winning design of the North York YMCA by Terry Fitsialos in 1979, Shore Tilbe Henschel Irwin and Peters long relationship with the YMCA begun. Fitsialos, an associate at the time, became a partner in 1986. Other buildings designed by the firm during this time were H.J.A. Brown Education Centre, Peel Regional Police Headquarters, and the post-modern Metropolitan Toronto Police Headquarters.
  Leonard Shore died in 1989, and as he had no immediate family, the Shore Foundation was created in his memory to assist the University of Toronto, and the L.E. Shore Memorial Library in Thornbury, Ontario.
  In early 1990 partners Arthur Herschel and Dennis Peters retired and Brian Aitken and David Mitchell were made partners. The firm's name changed once again to Shore Tilbe Irwin & Partners. The scope of work expanded again to includ
caption: Purdy's Wharf, in Halifax, Nova Scotia, designed by STI+P in 1989.
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