An exciting new journey in Vancouver
FaulknerBrowns Vancouver is the beginning of an exciting new journey that offers us the opportunity to share our approach to innovation and passion for design excellence, in a new region.
In July, Paul Rigby along with a new partner Kate Busby, established our first overseas studio in Vancouver, Canada. The pair secured a licence to practice with the Architectural Institute of British Columbia and have spent the last month settling into new surroundings at 1055 W Georgia Street in the heart of the city.
Since establishing the studio, Kate and Paul have had immediate success securing feasibility work, including a proposition for the most significant regeneration site in the city. In addition to this the team have been appointed to support the City of Vernon to prepare a feasibility study for the delivery of an Active Living Centre that includes both aquatic and dry sports facilities. Inevitably developing contacts and generating a new work stream will take time, but early signs suggest that there is a strong pipeline of opportunity well aligned to our experiences delivering high quality mixed use development, aspirational sports facilities and inspiring education establishments.
Vancouver is a young city that has experienced rapid growth over the last twenty years. Its identity is formed on the symbiotic relationship the city has with the surrounding mountains and natural wilderness context. Hailed as one of the world’s most liveable cities, Vancouver is challenged to maintain economic momentum and continue to grow, all whilst retaining the characteristics that make it a great emerging world city. We believe that our experience masterplanning major European cities, offers significant opportunity to Vancouver, Canada and North America. Dominated by the car, the city’s townscape lacks a generosity to support people’s habitation of the street. Public space is at a premium and our approach to destination making and the creation of place, coupled with our current research into the design of active cities has the potential to add great value to the Vancouver landscape.
The Pacific West Coast has a compelling architectural heritage from which Harry Faulkner Brown borrowed many principles when establishing the ‘FaulknerBrowns’ philosophy, while founding the studio in 1962. Since then we have delivered architecture across the UK, Europe, Middle East and Canada. We are proud to have designed the Mattamy National Cycling Centre, a venue that enabled Canada to host the 2015 Pan American Games and one that continues to deliver a sporting legacy. Our international work is an important part of our identity, profile and income stream. Establishing a permanent base in Vancouver provides us with a studio from which we can extend our influence and deploy our architectural and design ideas in new situations.
Paul has experience working in Canada and is excited to be joined by Kate who will bring a new dimension to our practice on both sides of the Atlantic. The cross-pollination of ideas and sharing of experiences across continents will only serve to make our work richer. We are fascinated to see how the innovations found in British Columbia can bring value to our work in the UK and vice versa. Kate has previously worked in the UK, Ireland and France, prior to delivering a number of significant sports projects with HCMA Architecture + Design and Shape Architecture, out of Vancouver. A fluent French speaker with a passion for designs that improve the day-to-day lives of all, Kate will add a new diverse dimension to the creative talent in our leadership team.
Over the coming months, we will be working to build a seamless relationship between our two locations. We expect our endeavours in Vancouver to add an exciting new dimension to our rich studio culture, and provide a positive addition to our research based design process. We will continue to use our ingenuity to challenge traditional typologies, and use our skill in model making to communicate our ideas with insight and clarity; this is fundamental to our approach. Our first goal is to establish a studio that will make a visible and positive impact on the architecture of the Pacific North West.
