Collection 1389 - Horwood and White Collection

Horwood and White was a Toronto, Ontario based architectural firm which existed from 1919 to 1969 and designed a variety of buildings across Canada.

The Toronto architectural firm Horwood and White was established in 1919 as the successor to Burke, Horwood and White, following on the death of Edmund Burke in January of that year.

John Charles Batstone Horwood (1864-1938) apprenticed to Langley, Langley and Burke as a student, then spent several years with an architectural office in New York before establishing a partnership with Burke in 1894 as Burke and Horwood. Murray Alexander White (1870-1935) apprenticed with Langley and Burke from 1889 to 1893, then moved to Chicago where he worked with the firm Holabird and Roche. In 1908 he became a full partner in the firm Burke, Horwood and White. White was not highly involved in the architectural drafting of the firm, but was known for his residence designs.

Horwood and White carried on the work of its predecessor firm in department stores, commercial buildings, churches, industrial plants and residences, including Hudson's Bay Company stores in Western Canada; Methodist, Baptist, Presbyterian and, later, United Church denominations.

Following the partners' deaths in the 1930's, the firm retained the name Horwood and White and continued under Horwood's son, Eric Compton Horwood (1900-1984), and S. Solomon Van Raalte (1882-1956). Among the works undertaken by the firm following the Second World War were several churches and schools, and a number of large, complex projects for Canadian General Electric, the University of Toronto, and the Children's Aid Society. When Eric Horwood entered retirement after 1969, the firm gradually wound up.