Diamond Schmitt Architects has announced the opening of its Vancouver practice. “Western Canada has always been well represented in our portfolio and with current projects and pursuits now is the right time to open a studio in Vancouver and be closer to our clients in the western regions of Canada and the United States,” said Donald Schmitt, Principal, Diamond Schmitt Architects.
Ana Maria Llanos, Senior Associate with the firm, leads the Vancouver-based team. She has worked at Diamond Schmitt for 20 years and has broad expertise in institutional and commercial projects. She is currently Project Architect for Emily Carr University of Art + Design, a 26,700-square-metre (290,000 sf) centre for 21st-century learning in art, design, media and applied research at the heart of a new creative cultural precinct. It opens in September 2017 at Great Northern Way in Vancouver.
Other current projects by the firm in western Canada include the University of British Columbia Undergrad Life Sciences Teaching Laboratories; the master plan study for Vancouver General Hospital and design for the Pacific Health Innovation Exchange (PHIX); Britannia Community Centre Renewal project; the Lister 5 Student Residence for the University of Alberta in Edmonton; and preliminary design for Calgary Opera facilities. At Washington State University, redevelopment of the Advanced Plant Sciences facility is underway.
Completed projects in British Columbia include the newly opened Okanagan College Trades Centre, a net-zero-ready facility in Kelowna; four buildings at UBC – the School of Medicine, the Law School, the School of Journalism and the Chemical and Biological Engineering building. The firm’s portfolio also includes the North Vancouver Public Library and the Tommy Douglas Library in Burnaby and the Law School and the University Library for Thompson Rivers University in Kamloops. Recently opened in Alberta is the 74,000-square-metre (800,000 sf) addition and renovation of the Schulich School of Engineering and the Taylor Institute for Teaching and Learning, both at the University of Calgary.
Ms. Llanos frequently presents at conferences and will speak at the upcoming Architectural Institute of British Columbia’s Annual Conference May 8-10th in Vancouver on Integrated Project Delivery (IPD), a collaborative design and construction process that is gaining traction in Canada for its cost control, schedule adherence and design integrity.
The Vancouver office of Diamond Schmitt Architects is located at 1500 West Georgia Street, Suite 880.