News

STUDIO UPDATE: Promotions to Senior Associate and Associate

SHAPE Architecture is excited to announce the promotion of Loretta Kong and David Guenter to the position of Senior Associate, and Alex Russell to the position of Associate. These team members have played crucial roles in shaping the design culture of the office, delivering projects which address many of the societal and environmental design challenges facing our profession today.

Since joining SHAPE Architecture in October of 2009, Loretta has amassed experience in realizing a number of award-winning aquatics and community recreation projects, including AFBC (AIBC) Lieutenant-Governor Medal for Architecture awards for the Guildford Aquatic Centre and the Columbia Valley Centre. She has delivered multiple mixed-use community facilities for municipal and post-secondary clients including the University of British Columbia, the City of Vancouver, the City of Burnaby, and the City of Surrey. In addition, Loretta, with co-Senior Associate David Guenter, will lead the project management team at SHAPE Architecture in continuing to deliver low-carbon, high performance buildings for public and private clients across Western Canada.

David joined SHAPE Architecture in 2010 and as a key member of the design and project management team, he has contributed his expertise to several award-winning projects including the AFBC (AIBC) Lieutenant-Governor Medal for Architecture for the Guildford Aquatic Centre. He has considerable experience working with industry to deliver economically viable design solutions for a multitude of project types. David was the project architect for the addition to the West Vancouver Memorial Library and most recently, was project architect for the Vancouver Masonic Centre mixed use affordable housing project. He has taken a leadership role mentoring architects within the practice and ensuring quality assurance and a level of design excellence across all projects delivered within the studio. David joins Loretta as a senior member of the management team at SHAPE Architecture.

Alex joined the practice four years ago after working in the UK and completing his architectural training at the University of Bath and the University of Westminster. Since joining SHAPE Architecture in 2019, Alex has focused his design and project management acumen in developing a number of complex multi-family residential rezoning and development projects in the Lower Mainland and Vancouver Island. He is currently leading the Innisfail Aquatic Centre in Edmonton and the Bowling Green Community Centre in Richmond. Alex brings a refined design problem-solving approach in applying straight-forward solutions to complex design problems.

AWARDS: Maple Grove Elementary Selected for Special Mention in the 2023 Architizer A+Awards

SHAPE Architecture is thrilled to share that the Maple Grove Elementary School was selected as a Special Mention in the 2023 Architizer A+Awards for the Primary & High Schools category. Less than 5% of entries were chosen as Special Mentions. Among the thousands of projects submitted worldwide, we are honoured that our work was chosen to receive this recognition.

A great project with our partner firm Montgomery Sisam Architects. Thank you to all our project collaborators!

Find out more about the project here.

Collaborators:

About the Awards: The Architizer A+Awards is the largest awards program focused on promoting and celebrating the year’s best architecture and spaces.

 

Photos: Ema Peter Photography

Behind the Design Process: North Delta Recreation Centre Expansion

Have you ever wanted to ask an architect about the thought process behind key design concepts of a project? Managing Partner Nick Sully provides insights into the design choices behind the North Delta Recreation Centre Expansion, and the intent in bringing out the potential of the centre as a social heart for the local community.

We are hiring!

We are hiring! At SHAPE Architecture, we advocate an open and collaborative environment because we believe every voice matters. Engaging with our staff, sharing our thoughts, experiences and viewpoints with each other brings forth new ideas.

We’re looking for the following new team members:

– Construction Administration Specialist (Intermediate Intern Architect or Registered Architect)
– Intermediate Intern Architect
– Junior to Intermediate Interior Designer
– Architectural Technologist

Sound like you or someone you know? See details on the open positions and how to apply here.

Adaptive Reuse & Heritage Homes

In the wake of International Women’s Day, did you know the Cardero Project’s story originates with a woman who is thought to be likely one of the earliest female business owners in Vancouver’s West End?

In 1901, Kate Fleming commissioned the construction of 1074 Cardero, opening a grocery on the main floor and living in the apartment above, eventually moving into the house next door once it was completed in 1908.

The project involves the adaptive re-use and renewal of two existing heritage buildings – lifting and moving the buildings forward on the site to allow for an additional infill at the rear. This design choice materially compliments yet distinguishes itself from the existing fabric of the heritage houses. The completed renovation will see the reestablishment of a commercial retail unit and increased living spaces.

 

Four Aquatic Centres to Check Out!

Aquatic centres are integral parts of the communities they serve. Throughout the years, SHAPE Architecture has been involved with various community and wellness centres across the lower mainland.

We’ve featured four aquatic centres you may recognize. Have you visited these before? More details for each project in the links below.

  1. Maple Ridge Leisure Centre
  2. Guildford Aquatic Centre
  3. Pender Harbour Aquatic + Fitness Centre
  4. North Delta Recreation Centre Outdoor Pool

Photography:

1/2/3 Ema Peter Photography

4 Eric Scott Photography

EVENTS: Digital Transformation / Digital Twin Summit at BCIT

Last week, members of the SHAPE Architecture team attended the Digital Transformation / Digital Twin Summit hosted by BCIT. Numerous speakers from across industries shared their insights on how different initiatives could be taken with Digital Twin technologies in the future.

We found that Digital twins span many industries – from industrial processes (e.g. steel factories), to buildings (individual buildings to group clusters), all the way to civic infrastructure (e.g transit lines like the Canada Line). They offer immense value in testing various scenarios with little incremental cost compared to real-world simulations.

Our team highlighted a few learnings from the event.

  • Digital twins offer safety and cost benefits for training compared to real-world training (the aviation industry has been using flight simulators similar to this for well over a decade)
  • Digital twins offer immense value in testing various scenarios with little incremental cost compared to real-world simulations.
  • Digital twins span many industries, from industrial processes (e.g. steel factories) to buildings (individual buildings like airports to groups of buildings such as post-secondary campuses or even small cities) to civic infrastructure (e.g transit lines like the Canada Line)
  • Virtual Reality (VR) can be used to experience digital twin models.
  • Augmented Reality (AR) is combining the digital twin model with direct views of reality through lenses. However this technology is a few years away.
  • LIDAR is a technology that can be used to create digital twins of existing entities. Very accurate and relatively low cost.

Looking to the future, the cost of data capture is dropping dramatically (i.e. sensors). How do we synthesize, visualize and utilize this opportunity? As architects, how can we ensure future-proofing for buildings we are designing now?

When data is gathered over time within a digital twin, Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) can be used to forecast future behavior of the system.

AI and ML need immense quantities of data, so working in siloes hinders this learning. Instead, there is immense value in sharing data across industry partners to feed AI and ML algorithms. On another hand, we recognize that while AI and ML can be incredibly beneficial, it will be critical to retain privacy. To do so, identifiers can and should be removed from data anonymize it.

DIGITAL TWINS 1/12: Whistler Home

Welcome to the first of a new monthly 12-part series – DIGITAL TWINS.

What are Digital Twins? They are virtual models that often precede their real-world architectural counterparts and sometimes continue to twin the life of real buildings in a predictive manner; which can help us to better understand how buildings perform. This series will showcase outstanding Digital Twins – buildings and architecture that have been created over the course of SHAPE Architecture’s history.

This month, we’re featuring a custom home on a steeply sloping forest site on Whistler Mountain. The house is envisaged as a rhizomic organism, emerging from the forest floor. The resultant form is a twin massing, separated above ground to create an intimate series of shared outdoor spaces – connected by a series of underground pathways and “roots”.

Keep your eyes out for the next one in January!

National Day for Truth and Reconciliation

SHAPE Architecture is closed on Friday Sept 30th to observe the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. This statutory day is one of the 94 Calls to Action issued by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s final report. Also Orange Shirt Day, it honours the lost children and survivors of Canada’s residential school system. It is a day for thought and reflection – by educating ourselves, we raise our awareness of the inter-generational impacts of Indigenous history, and what it means for reconciliation.

Below are links to resources shared amongst the team. Join us in developing a better understanding, learning more about the calls to action, and how you can get involved.

Learning Resources

 

You can also spend the day immersing yourself at Local Events in the Greater Vancouver area.

 

 

Image credit: Government of Canada

Maple Grove Elementary: What does this open air school look like to you?

Back during the design process for Maple Grove Elementary, alongside Montgomery Sisam Architects, we asked teachers, parents and students to imagine an open-air school concept. Their ideas contributed to the final forms of MGE.

We recently visited the school and came across student interpretations of the new school building. We snapped some photos — seriously talented artists here!

Learn more about Maple Grove Elementary here.