Edmund Burke (architect)


Edmund Burke was a highly regarded Canadian architect best known for building Toronto's Prince Edward Viaduct or "Bloor Street Viaduct", and Toronto's Robert Simpson store. He served as the vice-president, then President of the Ontario Association of Architects.

Personal

Burke was born in Toronto to parents with ties to building industry:
  • His father, William Burke, was a local lumber merchant and builder who founded Burke, Smith & Co in 1850 )
  • His mother, Sarah Langley, was sister to architect Henry Langley, whom Burke later trained with.
He had family ties to Sackville, New Brunswick where several important works survive:

Education and training

Burke attended Jesse Ketchum Public School, Upper Canada College and Toronto Mechanics' Institute before apprenticing as an architect with his maternal uncle and forming the firm Langley and Burke in 1873.

Later life and death

Most of Burke's professional career was in Toronto and he lived a little more than a decade after his uncle's death. Burke died in the city and is buried at Mount Pleasant Cemetery, where he designed the mortuary chapel in 1893.

Works

BuildingYear CompletedBuilderStyleSourceLocationImage
St. Luke's United Church1874Henry Langley and Edmund BurkeRomanesque Revival15Sherborne Street and Carlton Street, Toronto, Ontario
St. Andrew's Evangelical Lutheran Church1878Henry Langley & Edmund BurkeGothic Revival15383 Jarvis Street, Toronto, Ontario
Jarvis Street Baptist Church1878Henry Langley & Edmund BurkeGothic RevivalJarvis Street, Toronto, Ontario
McMaster Hall1881Henry Langley, Henry Langley and Edmund Burke Romanesque Revival2273 Bloor Street West, Toronto, Ontario
Beverley Street Baptist Church1886Henry Langley & Edmund BurkeGothic Revival672 Beverley Street, Toronto, Ontario
Trinity-St. Paul's United Church1887–1889Henry Langley and Edmund BurkeGothic Revival15Bloor Street west of Spadina Avenue, Toronto, Ontario
Prince Edward Viaduct1918Edmund BurkeGothic RevivalToronto, Ontario
Robert Simpson's Department Store Building1896, 1908, 1923Edmund BurkeRomanesque Revival, Chicago SchoolToronto, Ontario
Orillia City Hall – rebuild plans for Orillia City Hall built in 1895 by Gordon & Helliwell1915Edmund Burke, J.C.B. Horwood and Murray WhiteRomanesque Revival20 Mississauga Street West, Orillia, Ontario
Owens Art Gallery1895Edmund BurkeRenaissance RevivalMount Allison University, 61 York Street, Sackville, New Brunswick, Canada
Hammond/Black House 1896Edmund BurkeQueen Anne Revival-styleMount Allison University, 82 York Street, Sackville, New Brunswick, Canada
Walmer Road Baptist Church1889–1892Edmund Burke & Henry LangleyGothic Revival188 Lowther Street, Toronto, Canada
Broadmoor Manor1908Edmund BurkeRomanesque Revival15382 Main Street, Tantramar, New Brunswick. Home of renowned Canadian sculptor Christian Cardell Corbet-
Dr. Charles Paisley House1903Edmund BurkeShingle style42 York Street, Sackville-