We are a strategically minded architecture and design studio.

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Design Workshop Architects - Toronto 

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Inventive

We draw inspiration from diverse influences to create with purpose.

Our society is awash in the mythology of innovation, but conceiving and implementing transformative ideas is not about buzzwords or trends – it’s about intelligent observation. 

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Rigorous

Competence is our currency, nothing substitutes for asking smart questions.

Creativity is a discipline that requires practice and iteration, and responses need to be built on a foundation of disciplined investigation and research. We are constant learners and teachers in everything we do.

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Approachable

We are open-minded and interested in what others think and know.

Great design builds from the foundation of relationships. We are socially-minded and we learn from the collective experiences of everyone we meet.

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Cultured

Culture is our context and your priority; we’re invested in elevating it.

Our work is framed and shaped by (and for) a multitude of subcultures. Design must work to understand these visible and invisible forces, and hitch on to them to help us rise upwards.


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Holistic

We know that nothing is separate and everything can be connected.

Being able to perceive and respond to the connections between seemingly unrelated factors is what distinguishes higher-order design from rote process. 

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Energetic

The impact of a design is dependent on the momentum created by hard work.

The ability to sustain attention to the goals of any design undertaking is the secret to creating meaningful interventions and fostering the relationships that connect people across the space of problems.

We engage with buildings at all levels, through analysis, design and execution. We have experience through all phases of architectural services and have a highly developed skillset around the design of high-performance new-build and renovation work. We work comfortably and confidently at all scales, from the fine grain of an exceptional custom home through to large, multi-phase, commercial and residential projects.

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Buildings

Understanding and vetting the many potential routes to solving a problem requires knowledge and rigor. We examine  the multi-dimensional factors that will contribute to making strategic design decisions throughout the life of a project. Doing the work up-front builds a platform for success. We excel at helping our stakeholders to understand risk and allocate resources.

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Feasibility

The capacity to look into our potential futures emerges out of experience, consideration, knowledge, and vision. This is a design process, and imagining and achieving ideal future outcomes is the ultimate strategic element of our work. Interrogating our past and present provides context, but to venture deeply into potential futures requires a creative spark and intuitive capacity. Visit the Future Workshop website. 

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Foresight

Creating a memorable and evocative interior space is an especially humane and artistic aspect of the craft of architecture. The joining of interior and exterior (and beyond) requires a deft touch and a commitment to visual, tactile, and conceptual legibility. We’ve had unique experience with architecture and interior design and know that elevating an interior is about so much more than trends. We can help you  consider the entire experience of a service, workplace, residence, or product, and to deliver a rich, unique, and impactful space, complete with the elements that will give it life.

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Interiors

There is more to the process of realizing a project than designing a building. We are ideal partners for the navigation of the complex process of steering projects through the increasingly fraught approvals process. We’ll help you to understand the hurdles up front and will support you or your specialist consultants with the technical and political tools to unlock the potential of your project. Planning a project, in terms of identifying goals, responsive timing and budgets, building a team, and following through on day-to-day management is, of course, also a necessary ingredient in a great architectural partner – let us help you with both. 

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Planning

The spaces between buildings are part of the connective tissue of the city’s physical fabric, society, and culture. We extend public spaces into time through experiences, memory, and emotion. We love the challenge of breaking down boundaries between the experience of interior and exterior space, and believe in the profound impact of engaging with people through this medium. The true scale of a city is that of the individual lives and communities it hosts, not the vessels it creates.

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Public Realm

Consideration of the broader impact on society, the city and the interests of others is an emerging part of the responsibility and duty of those who are in positions of influence. We believe that it is usually possible to solve more than one problem through any design process. This means that we can look at the implications of decisions that go beyond the scope of conventional practice and identify opportunities that would be missed when viewed through a narrower lens. This can and should be a win-win-win for all parties, and for the triple bottom line of economic, environmental, and social impact.

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Public Interest

Interacting with complex problems is part of the experience of practicing architecture at a high level. The leap from interaction with complexity to a humble self-awareness and intervention in these spaces extends past the boundaries of the traditional discipline. This is where we see the future of our profession: in the application of our unique spatial intelligence to  unlock the potential for positive change in our challenged world.

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Strategic Design

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Inquisitive

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Conversational

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Collaborative

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Immersive

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Thoughtful

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Evocative

How Bright is Our Future?

IDS 2018 Digital Installation Lab Booth for DWA How Bright is Our Future Project 