Winnipeg Architecture Foundation

09/05/2026

A final boarding call, that was perhaps too soon.

Do you recall the former Winnipeg International Airport Terminal?

Widely recognised as one of the finest examples of mid-century modern architecture in the country, the terminal complex consisted of the administration building and control tower, the concourse building and an arrival/departure lounge.

This postcard, in our collections, captures the scale and sophistication of the terminal complex.

The control tower remains in operation, serving the new terminal opened in 2011.

08/11/2026

The Leo Mol Gallery, opened in 1992, at the Leo Mol Sculpture Garden in Assiniboine Park.

The garden was designed by Hilderman Thomas Frank Cram Landscape Architects, now HTFC, with a glazed gallery by Stechesen Katz Architects.

The landscape received a Canadian Society of Landscape Architects (CSLA) regional merit award in 1994.

These slides from the 1990s are from the Les Stechesen fonds in the WAF Collection.

Assiniboine Park HTFC Planning & Design CSLA | AAPC
MALA

08/11/2026

The 12 August ‘John D Atchison: the architectural tour’ with Gail Perry is fully booked. WAF newsletter subscribers receive priority registration for upcoming programmes.

Gail Perry’s tour explores buildings designed by the prolific and accomplished architect John Danley Atchison. Born in Illinois and trained in Chicago, Atchison later worked with ‘the father of the American skyscraper’, William Le Baron Jenney. After working in Chicago for 11 years, including on the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition, he moved to Winnipeg in 1905. In just 18 years, Atchison built the backdrop to the city, with diverse, elegant buildings that continue to serve and delight today.

WAF extends gratitude to tour leader, writer and researcher Gail Perry for sharing her research and expertise through her engaging tours.

For patrons joining Wednesday’s tour, the programme will run for approximately 90 minutes and take place on accessible surfaces.

Photos: Boyd Building, 384–388 Portage Avenue. WAF collection, 2017.

08/10/2026

The Annex, Living Prairie Museum.

Designed by Public City Architecture with Wolfrom Engineering and Wood Anchor.

Happy 50th anniversary to the museum. For the Annex project, a transformation of leftover space adds a workshop, fire pit and a new gathering ground to one of Manitoba’s last fragments of Tall Grass Prairie.

livingprairiemuseum Public City Wolfrom Engineering Wood Anchor Art Fabrication

Photo credit: Public City Architecture

08/10/2026

294 Portage Avenue, known as Somerset Place, was designed by architect John Woodman and constructed in 1906.

It was erected as a commercial office building with retail space on the main floor. The building’s location across the street from the Eaton’s department store benefitted its retail tenants as well as some of the commercial tenants.

A notable example of the Chicago School style in Winnipeg, Somerset Place was proposed for designation on the City of Winnipeg’s List of Historical Resources. However, the designation was denied by City Council on 6 May 2020.

Learn more about Somerset Place and its historic design on our website.

08/01/2026

07/24/2026

James Henry Ashdown arrived in Winnipeg in 1868 and quickly set up a hardware and building materials store to serve the growing city. In 1869 he purchased two lots at the corner of Main Street and Bannatyne Avenue and built a single-storey timber-frame building at 211 Bannatyne, where he would serve the public for the next 100 years as the 'J.H. Ashdown Hardware Company'.

The Ashdown company was one of the first Canadian businesses to create its own brand. In 1904, it launched the 'Diamond A' product line and stamped all its packages with the mark. The company also had its own mail-order business, to compete with Canada’s growing catalogue industry.

Today, the former Ashdown Store at 211 Bannatyne Avenue adjoins Old Market Square in the Exchange District National Historic Site. As the building marks its 121st birthday this year, its celebrated ghost sign continues to overlook the Winnipeg Fringe Theatre Festival, recalling more than a century of the city’s history.

Learn more about the Ashdown Store and its ghost sign on our website and in the WAF publication Ghost Signs by author and urban archaeologist Matthew Cohen.

Photographs from Ghost Signs by Matthew Cohen, 2021.