The spring is gearing up to be an exciting season as our studio members participate in a variety of events, symposia, and talks about urbanism and design. We look forward to having you join us as we share our ideas and projects.

What Does It Really Take to Successfully Develop a Transit-Oriented Site?

One of the biggest struggles Canadian landholders face is that the value of their property is wrapped up in the land. Their property is a virtual goldmine, but they don’t know how to put together the partnerships needed to tap into its true value.

Join Principal Liana Bresler part of the panel in this roundtable conversation.

Design Workshop for Black Design Professionals and Students
New Park on King Street East

Associate Camille Mitchell will be participating in a workshop as part of the community consultation for a new park on King Street East in Toronto. Hosted by the City of Toronto, this workshop will bring more Black voices into the design process, provide a networking opportunity for Black practitioners and students entering the design field, and to help ensure the ultimate design achieves the park's vision, to celebrate and/or commemorate the history, presence, diversity, and future of the Black communities in the neighbourhood.

Activating Public Space in Toronto Through Art & Design

Join Associate Camille Mitchell for an exciting collaboration between BAIDA, STEELCASE and the design team for a proposed park located at 254 King Street East. Don't miss out on this unique opportunity to explore the intersection of design, community and the art of building legacies!

The new park located at 254 King East has been carefully crafted with a community-driven vision aimed at honouring and celebrating the rich history, diversity, and promising future of Black communities within the Moss Park neighbourhood. Drawing inspiration from the impactful narratives of Black migration that have significantly shaped the fabric of Toronto, the park will showcase a compelling array of public art and design elements. These will include imposing cowrie shell sculptures, intricately braided pathways, a serene water feature, and inviting seating areas, each representing distinct regions from which Black Canadians have migrated, such as Africa, The Americas, and The Caribbean. Embracing the essence of these migration stories, the park's design integrates four prominent symbols deeply meaningful to both Black and Indigenous communities in Canada: water, cowrie shells, cornrows, and Sankofa. Through the interplay of form and symbolism, the park performs as a Metaphorical Hub that commemorates the historical, contemporary and future Arrivals, Departures and Reunions of Toronto’s diverse Black population.

This event is open to people at all points of their career, and will be eligible for Continuing Education Credits.

ULI Spring Meeting
Brokering Public and Private Interests to Leverage Investment in Regional Transit Infrastructure

Building regional transit infrastructure and associated transit-oriented communities takes many years, yet its success depends on clear objectives established early in the process. Learning to anticipate the challenges of building an efficient and economically viable transit system with ample opportunities for the private sector creates value for governments, their agencies, and local stakeholders who benefit from improvements in their communities.

Join Principal Shonda Wang for this session where she will demonstrate how successful preplanning for development and community building requires the integration of design, policy, and economics to create innovative solutions that yield tangible results and respond to regional growth considerations. She will show how to broker effective urban planning and design solutions—from the technical requirements of station design to priming a physical and economic landscape. Considering these and many other factors well in advance clarifies the role of private- and public-sector investment while mitigating risk and maximizing the benefits of large-scale regional transportation infrastructure projects.

Disruption Days

Join our Director of Latin America Ana Espinosa at they explore the ways adaptive reuse can revitalize and revive cities.

American Public Transportation Association APTA Conference
Beyond the Surface: Rethinking BRT Infrastructure

BRT and surface-level transit integration goes beyond critical technical requirements, but include the significance of partnerships and broader design considerations. Partner and transit expert Shonda Wang will guide you through balancing development opportunities at station locations with redevelopment potential, transit needs, and the creation of landmark communities with integrated mobility choices, diverse land uses, sustainable employment opportunities, and a high-quality public realm.

Through her experiences gained on projects like the Ontario Line, the Hurontario LRT and Dundas Connects, Wang will illustrate the attainable balance between new transit infrastructure and overbuild technical requirements, with specific expertise to design with tools and metrics that support government and transit agencies in creating environmental, social and economic value. Typical of integrating successful BRTs and surface track infrastructure, assembling the right mix of partners and disciplines at the outset of concept planning and design, including unanticipated partners, to achieve public sector results is essential.

This session invites you to explore successful corridor planning strategies, learn from real-world projects, and engage in dialogue around the best modes to invest in, especially in the context of at-grade and bus systems.

Portfolio & Resume Review Clinic

Join us at the Toronto Society of Architects’ first ever Portfolio and Resume Review Clinic, as they bring together an amazing roster of guest reviewers including members of our studio to give feedback on these important documents and share their insights on what makes a candidate stand out. Our portfolio reviewers represent a wide variety of practices within the industry, including architecture, landscape architecture, and interior design, and all have experience in the hiring process.

RAIC Conference on Architecture
Keynote Lunch: Building Connections / Breaking Barriers- Current Challenges for Women in Architecture

While the profession is advancing towards goals of gender parity, women in architecture continue to face challenges in our education, work, and career advancement. How does the global conversation around diversity, equity, and inclusion inform the way the profession supports women in architecture? What opportunities exist to address structural inequities, with results that can improve the future of the profession for women and men alike?

Join Associate and founding member of BEAT and BAIDA Camille Mitchell alongside Marie-Odile Marceau of McFarland Marceau Architects, architectural editor Elsa Lam of Canadian Architect and BEAT, Eladia Smoke of Smoke Architecture and the RAIC Indigenous Task Force, Ashley Hannon of Leckie Studio and Women in Architecture in a discussion about the present challenges and future opportunities for women in architecture.

RAIC Conference on Architecture
RAIC College of Fellows and Syllabus Graduates Convocation

Join us in celebrating Associate Camille Mitchell as she is inducted into the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada's College of Fellows. Camille has contributed extensively to architecture through volunteerism, leadership and advocacy in several organizations in the design community. Her ability to inspire and lead others, rallying volunteers and fostering a sense of camaraderie is a core strength.

Read more about her achievements and advocacy here.

Doors Open Toronto

Once again, we will be participating in the Doors Open Toronto Open Studio program. Come visit our Toronto studio in the St. Lawrence neighbourhood housed in one of four original LCBO warehouses constructed at the end of Prohibition. See where and how we work, with presentations and talks from our studio members about our approach to city-building for all. Stay tuned for more details.

Land and Development Conference
Transportation and Infrastructure Planning: How Is It Impacting Commercial Real Estate Development and Redevelopment Activity?

Join Principal Liana Bresler as part of a panel analyzing mobility planning as it relates to residential and commercial development. They will discuss what makes transportation successful and what can be done better, citing key examples from our extensive portfolio of transportation planning and Transit Oriented Community projects.

Azure Human/Nature Conference
Environmental Stewardship and Indigenous Reconciliation: a Regenerative Approach to Campus Planning: A Regenerative Approach to Campus Planning

The Trent Lands and Nature Areas Plan has a foundation of deep engagement with First Nations, Indigenous communities, and campus and local communities. Together, they created a campus plan that embraces regenerative and nature-inclusive practices, mirroring Trent University’s teachings – as a leader in environmental and Indigenous studies – in their space.

Join Senior Associate and Urban Design Lead Lina Al-Dajani alongside Bob Goulais, President & Senior Principal at Nbisiing Consulting Inc as they examine how they worked to build trust, promote enduring relationships, and integrate traditional Indigenous wisdom, knowledge, and values into a new campus plan for the University in Peterborough, Ontario. The creation of the Trent Lands and Nature Areas Plan was a significant opportunity for the University to learn how to engage respectfully and collaboratively with First Nations, specifically to increase cultural capacity when engaging with First Nations; develop best practices and a protocol guide for future projects; to incorporate Indigenous ways of knowing in a meaningful way; and approach this as a demonstration project for advancing broader goals of Reconciliation.