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RH Carter staff treated to a preview and test drive of the not yet released Jaguar XE and XF. Thanks to 7 Communications for arranging this excellent Urban Drive Experience.

Congratulations to Richmond Hill Toyota on a wonderful ribbon cutting ceremony this week. We were proud to be part of this team.

Congratulations to Chris Endras on the official groundbreaking for his new 70,000 square foot Lexus of Lakeridge facility in Ajax, Ontario.

Congratulations to Team RH Carter Architects who participated in the Goodlife Fitness Toronto 5K Run at Ontario Place.

It was a perfect day and a great run. Thank you May Kuo for organizing the event and good luck to our very own Siobhan Blessing who used this as a warm up for her half marathon in California next weekend.

TERRONI, Toronto

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In October 2014, the Policaro Automotive Family held a ground breaking event, beginning the development process of a new state-of-the-art BMW dealership.

Mr. Arnone addressed all attendees, "The design blended with the Policaro's already exceptional devotion the customer will make for a world class consumer and brand experience. The new facility will incorporate new technologies and digital concepts to elevate the shopping feel. The BMW Brampton facility will offer a warm, inviting atmosphere, consultation on equal footing, and a new presentation of premium as defined and executed through the Future Retail Experience."

For more information, please click here to read the official Canada Newswire Press Release than was distributed two days post ground breaking.

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TERRONI, Toronto

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In October 2013, Porsche Centre Oakville officially opened it's doors to the public.                                                                                                                                               
RH Carter designed and built this magnificent facility, notably; the largest Porsche dealership in Canada and top three in North America. Every element was designed and built to impress guests, clients and prospects - creating a memorable experience as one walks in the front door.

From the materials used, to the showroom layout, each feature aligns with Porsche Canada brand guidelines.

For further details, please click here to read the formal Canada Newswire Press Release that was distributed one week post the official Grand Opening.

7 Avonhurst, Toronto

As much as we love our Porsche models, they are not the subject of this specific blog post. Porsche Centre Oakville (PCO) is taking shape and we recently sat with Mr. Robert Arnone – Partner and Architect at R.H. Carter Architects in Toronto – to discuss the environmental elements that have been integrated into the dealership. When it opens later this year, this 55,000 square foot facility will be the largest in the country and one of the largest Porsche Centre’s in North America, creating a challenge to ensure all energy consumption is minimized.

PCO - “Lets talk about building codes as they relate to the environment and building a dealership.”

RA - “Buildings are now assessed, tested and evaluated based on their ability to provide a more robust building science, one that’s more energy-efficient. This was a big leap forward for Ontario. It really comes down to a buildings ability to mitigate heat gain and heat loss. Our job as the lead architect was – among other things – to ensure solar gain and extremes in temperature don’t burden the dealerships mechanical systems.”

PCO - “How does Porsche Centre Oakville conform to these codes?”

RA - “The Porsche Corporate Image (CI) is a remarkable building design. It has this very heavy brow that’s counterintuitive to how most car dealerships are designed. This very prominent brow above a very modest height showroom glass wraps around at least two, and in our case, three sides of the dealership. By virtue of this lack of glazing, we now have a building that more readily meets the new Ontario Building Code standards as it relates to energy efficiency. As an aside there’s also this mysterious European inspired building typology. You really have to approach the building before you get witness to what’s going on inside. It has a very intriguing and mysterious element to the design which I find very, very attractive.”

PCO - “Porsche Centre Oakville is a very big building. How else do you mitigate heat energy loss?”

RA - “Our mechanical systems, our HVAC systems, are nothing less than high efficiency. We are going to get the benefit of the newest technology, we’re therefore going to burn less energy to run the systems. We also have quite a large roof which traditionally absorbs large amounts of heat. We wanted to find ways to reduce the amount of heat absorption through the roof. You can reduce the burden on the systems and the amount of heat absorption if you consider taking on a roof with a high albedo (or refection coefficient), which is reflecting the heat back into the environment. In this case, we were glad to incorporate a white roof system in order for Porsche Centre Oakville to achieve this.”

PCO - “What about the interior?”

RA - “Some of the accomplishments on the interior is less of a feather in our cap and more of a reflection of what the industry is now offering. We’ve simply taken advantage of interior finishes that are now market ready and market available that contain recycled materials. For example, porcelain tiles and carpeting that contain recycled materials. These are things that were are happy to include and were not available or were cost prohibitive only a few years ago.”

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R.H. Carter supports the Movember Foundation and their commitment to men's health issues.

Kaplanski's Deli Truck at R.H. Carter Architects Inc.

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Tour of the National War Museum

Tour and Dinner at Fallingwater

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Globe and Mail Article                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   

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The House and Home feature article                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             

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