Our Studio Philosophy
Creating Architecture is an intentional act – whether coming out of present needs, a desire for better physical space, or ambitions for the future. Your visions are personal, community focused and/or business driven and our design approach for these visions responds through careful consideration of a project site, budget, codes, regulations, and the social, ecological, physical and political frameworks, all of which provide the context for your project. Choosing the appropriate processes and tools to utilize while designing is a fundamental part of being intentional in the act of creating any building, renovation, addition, landscape, piece of furniture, object or artwork.
Our Role
As Architects, we can visualize the larger picture and aim to be stewards of your project. We work through the architectural process with you while listening, learning, responding, engaging, and educating. We apply our philosophy to your vision and synthesize it into a series of informed and carefully considered design options. We then convey our options to you, and working with you, further refine and consolidate the options into a final design. We further the process by coordinating with other disciplines and communicating the result to authorities and contractors. Finally, we help guide your project so that it is realized on time, in budget and with the quality the project and vision ultimately deserve.
Experience
Our practice draws on our collective time working for some of the top specialized Architecture firms across Canada giving us a broad range of experience to apply to projects of any scale or program. We understand the role and importance of our collective heritage, the value existing buildings can bring to our projects, and the land which we inhabit. We have designed residential projects that carefully consider a refined domestic interior while responding to the human scale and personal preference. We have applied an attention to detailing, materiality and durability while building on a brand or intended experience for commercial spaces. We have seen first-hand the benefits of a design process working with a community while incorporating local materials, knowledge and processes into a design and thereby increasing a projects impact. We have successfully navigated larger scale public and private projects, urban planning, and city processes to position projects within the larger context of our cities. Over the years we have gained extensive experience and proficiency in: detailing; building performance; knowledge of construction processes; managing budgets; executing a project on schedule; and on site review. Every day we continue to learn and add to these expertise to further inform our current practice.
Attention to Detail
Our office is a REVIT office. It is quick, accurate and allows us to better convey our ideas in 2d and 3d. After that, we support all our projects by ensuring we use of the right tools for the job. We are always looking for better ways to design, develop, communicate, and construct. This increases the quality of our work, our attention to detail, speed of production, and ability to clearly communicate while keeping us nimble and agile enough to respond quickly and accurately to the ins and outs of any project. By always streamlining our technologies and processes we also free up more time to focus on the parts of the practice of Architecture that are most important… creating meaningful architecture that responds to your vision and needs in a beautiful and enduring way.
The Givens
We believe that there are certain things that should not be a focus but are rather given parts of all architectural projects. Accessibility for all is important to us and we always strive to design for inclusion. Environmental consciousness is incorporated into all our projects through material selection, reuse, construction techniques and building performance. Health and safety of individuals is paramount, whether integrated into our designs or during the construction process. This does not mean we cannot pay extra attention to these areas to take them to the next level, but there is a base level that we strive to include in all our projects.
