Doors Open, one of my favourite yearly events, is in a couple weeks. I try to get to a few sites each year, both to see the insides of some buildings that I wouldn’t otherwise be able to see and, of course, to take some architectural photos. My friend Karl does a wonderful job organizing the event and even takes the time to coordinate pre-visits for people like me to get some early shots to give others a glimpse of what they can expect to see.

The McMaster School of Medicine is located in downtown Kitchener, next door to the School of Pharmacy—which has been a Doors Open participant in the past—at King and Victoria. This is the first year it has taken part in this event so Karl was keen on getting some early shots of the space.

Kara Weiler, the school’s Community Engagement & Development Officer, met me early one morning and gave me a quick tour of the building. It was actually the first day of class so I was quite lucky to get in when I did. I even had to make a few students wait while I got a few shots of the lecture hall. The building itself is beautiful. It has a modern industrial feel and it fits right in with the innovation district. It uses a lot of glass to let in a ton of natural light which gives the space an open and inviting feel.

I’m hoping to get to a few more sites before the 19th, not to mention a few the day of. If you’re free you should definitely check this event out. Even if you’re not free, you should seriously make some time and go.

Late last week my good friend Karl Kessler of Doors Open Waterloo Region fame let me know that the Button Factory in Waterloo was having a small pop up show for most of September. The show centres around cityscapes from the region. They had a need to fill an unexpected gap, so I was more than happy to submit a piece.

I only had a few days to get something together and, lucky me, I’ve had my entry hanging in our house for months. It’s a shot of the Tannery building downtown since being renovated, although you might not know that from the angle at which I shot it. The bonus with this show—which runs from September 11 to 28—is that the Button Factory will be taking part in Doors Open on September 19 which means there’ll be a ton of people going through. Maximum exposure!

The Accelerator Centre is a tech incubator here in town that fosters start-ups. They provide facilities, mentorship, networking, as well as funding to entrepreneurs with the intention of building successful companies.

Recently they launched an expansion called “Reactor”. It’s an added 8,000 square feet of space that can house over 30 early-stage tech companies. It is on the second floor of the building across the road from the Accelerator Centre. It has a common kitchen, meeting rooms, and a boatload of desk space.

My friend Mike Pereira, the marketing manager at the AC, approached me about having some photos of the new space, as well as the AC itself, taken. They needed a variety of images for press releases and advertising and whatnot so I went over to meet Mike and get a tour of the new space. It was a quick turnaround but I was more than happy to help out.

The new space looks fantastic. The addition of so much additional space shows how much the Accelerator Centre means to our tech community.