aA’s team of 70 architects, designers and technologists provide the full spectrum of services, applied to a scope of practice that ranges from academic and institutional buildings to large-scale mixed-use developments: condominiums and affordable housing, classrooms and research labs, private courtyards and urban streetscapes. aA projects are located all over Canada, the United States, and Europe.
aA’s team of 70 architects, designers and technologists provide the full spectrum of services, applied to a scope of practice that ranges from academic and institutional buildings to large-scale mixed-use developments: condominiums and affordable housing, classrooms and research labs, private courtyards and urban streetscapes. aA projects are located all over Canada, the United States, and Europe.
aA is a design-driven studio. We encourage fresh thinking, honest questions and tough decisions. We work collaboratively: every member of a project team – including our client – has a voice. A core team, led by our Principal and one or more Associates, is assigned to each project, to ensure ultimate accountability and responsive day-by-day stewardship of our clients’ goals. Our collaborative approach extends to the composition of our project teams: aA has collaborated with other architects in Canada, the US and Europe; lab and LEED® consultants in the US and Germany; and engineers in cities across Canada. In design as in nature, cross-pollination breeds strength, diversity and innovation.
aA believes in the intensity and vitality of cities: each of our buildings and public spaces is a conscious act of city-building. Through each project we articulate a compelling and appropriate response to context, and an urbane response to density that enriches the public realm and the experience of city life. We think at a variety of scales: from individual academic buildings to entire campuses; from private houses to large-scale mixed-use developments; from individual buildings to public spaces that transform an entire precinct. We apply what we learn from one project to the next.
aA is committed to the development of efficient, sustainable buildings, for their practical benefits and as a matter of principle. We designed the first sustainable student housing capable of meeting the +40°/-40° climactic extremes of central Canada. Our engineering building in British Columbia operates 45% more efficiently than a conventional academic building. Our affordable housing project in downtown Toronto incorporates a Community Energy System that will power the entire community. Our sustainably designed projects deliver increased systems efficiency; reduced operating costs; increased amenity for users. They show the community that our clients are responsible public citizens.
