RDH Architects Inc. (RDHA) is a Toronto-based design studio specializing in civic buildings. Founded in 1919, it is one of Canada’s oldest continuing architectural practices with a portfolio spanning mid-century corporate headquarters to contemporary public buildings. Recent work includes corporate headquarters, embassies and chanceries, industrial facilities, academic buildings, recreation centres, arenas, transportation infrastructure, and both academic and public libraries. Early practice (1919 - 1990) The practice was founded by Ferdinand Marani in Toronto in 1919. At the time Marani frequented the Diet Kitchen Tea Room at 72 Bloor Street West, which was a gathering place for young architects such as John M. Lyle, Alvan Mathers, Eric Haldenby, Eric Arthur and others who sought to “raise appreciation for Canadian design and allied arts.” The group was informally dubbed “The Diet Kitchen School of Architecture,” and many of its members would go on to design landmark buildings in Canada. The practice was renamed Marani and Paisley in 1924, and then Marani Lawson and Paisley in 1927, when it landed its first major commission for the Medical Arts Building at the corner of Bloor and St. George Streets in Toronto. Over 75 years later, a plaque was affixed to its face by Heritage Toronto reading, “Designed in a Georgian-influenced style by Marani, Lawson and Paisley, Architects, it exhibits high-quality materials and craftsmanship, particularly in its stone detailing and main lobby.” By 1930 the practice had become Marani, Lawson & Morris, and was responsible for The North American Life Assurance Company headquarters at King and University Streets. A 1932 article published in Construction described the seven-storey Art Deco building as “an edifice of real distinction, its simplicity of design and reversion to clean lines being somewhat in contrast to the earlier home of the company.” In the 1940s, all three partners left the practice to support the war. Afterwards Lawson stepped down and the practice became Marani & Morris. Following the war, the studio began to adopt Modernism into its designs. The Bank of Canada building at 250 University Avenue in Toronto, completed in 1958, exemplifies Classical Modernism, a moderate approach to the movement that appealed to the practice’s corporate clients. From 1964 to 1980, the practice operated as Marani, Rounthwaite & Dick, and then as Rounthwaite, Dick & Hadley. During this period, the studio designed the new Toronto Courthouse (1966) and the Bank of Canada headquarters in Ottawa with architect Arthur Erickson (1979).