Tara Castator
Architectural Designer
WILLIAMSONWILLIAMSON is an award winning and internationally recognized architecture practice established in Toronto by Betsy and Shane Williamson in 2007. Our portfolio includes work ranging from master plans to furniture, all of which reflect a careful attention to detail regardless of scale or budget. Accordingly, we take great pride in our working relationships with clients, consultants, contractors, trades, and suppliers respective of our design approach that privileges contextual specificity and sustainable building strategies.
Multi-generational housing represents a growing thread in our work, particularly as families are confronting an increasingly unaffordable housing market in the city core. Readily configurable to allow for evolving and multiple blends of living arrangements, our house designs also recognize the possibilities of intensification latent in the morphology of Toronto’s urban fabric.
Our practice was founded on research that situates digital fabrication and wood construction in a broader cultural context. As such, we employ advanced digital tools as a means to critically engage traditional modes of construction and tectonic expression. Most recently we have embraced virtual reality platforms as a primary vehicle for design explorations and client engagement.
Our practice has strong ties to both the profession and academia. Betsy is the vice chair of the Waterfront Design Review Panel and co-founder of Building Equality in Architecture (BEA), an organization that promotes equality in the profession through advocacy, mentorship and networking. Shane is a tenured associate professor and former Director of the Master of Architecture Program at the Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape, and Design at the University of Toronto. Betsy and Shane are both Fellows of the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada (RAIC), an honour conferred on members singled out for their contribution to research, scholarship, public service or professional standing to the good of architecture.
Our work has been published widely including Architecture, Architectural Record, Azure, Canadian Architect, Domus, Dwell, I.D., and Metropolis and has been exhibited at the National Building Museum, Washington, DC; the Municipal Center for the Arts, New York, NY; Mercer Union, Toronto; Design Exchange, Toronto, ON; I-Space Gallery, Chicago, IL; the Urban Center, New York, NY; and the Corkin Gallery, Toronto, ON.
Our projects have received numerous awards from the Ontario Association of Architects, Ontario WoodWorks, the Canadian Wood Council, Canadian Architect, and Architect Magazine’s Residential Architect Design Awards. In addition, our practice has been awarded the the Ronald J. Thom Award for Early Design Achievement and the Professional Prix de Rome for Architecture from the Canada Council of the Arts, the Emerging Architectural Practice Award from the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada , the Young Architects Prize and the Emerging Voices Award from the Architecture League of New York.
WILLIAMSON WILLIAMSON INC.
235 Carlaw Avenue, Suite 400
Toronto, Ontario M4M 2S1
Canada
1-416-703-9271
General Inquiries: studio@wwinc.ca
Employment Inquiries: here
Architectural Designer
Architectural Designer
Architectural Designer
Architectural Designer
Architect
Associate
Architectural Designer
Architectural Designer
Principal
Principal
Osler Bluff Ski club receives some love from Interior Design Magazine in 2020. Celebrating its 15th year, Interior Design’s Best of Year Awards is “the ultimate measure of design excellence, honoring the most significant projects and products of the year from around the globe.”
Osler Bluff Ski Club receives a Canadian Interiors Best of Canada 2020 award in the institutional category.
Those of you who know us understand that we only submit our work to a few awards platforms and have shunned the play-to-play vehicles. It is an industry that plays on our egos and makes a smart profit while they’re at it. After the launch of the Dezeen Awards recently, I waited to see what…
We are excited to announce that Bruce Mau Design is a 2019 Best of Year Awards finalist in the Creative Office category. Congratulations to all those shortlisted, and we look forward to the announcement and party on December 1st in New York City.
Pilot Coffee Roasters has been included in this year’s Canadian Interiors’ Best of Canada Awards for Office Design. The Best of Canada Design Competition is Canada’s only design competition to focus on interior design projects and products without regard to size, budget or location. No one can win an award like this without the support…
Ottawa, ON, January 17th, 2019 – Wood Design & Building magazine announced the award recipients for the prestigious 2018 Wood Design & Building Awards program. A revered architectural jury hand-selected the winning projects at the end of December 2018. The jury consisted of: Shelley Craig, Principal at Urban Arts Architecture Paul Masi, Principal at Bates…
Architects and industry professionals at the forefront of wood design in Ontario came together to celebrate excellence in wood design at the 18th annual Wood WORKS! Awards night in Toronto on November 20, 2018. The awards program honours people and organizations that, through design excellence, advocacy, and innovation, are advancing the use of wood in all types of…
“Canadian Interiors’ Best of Canada Design Competition is the country’s only design competition to focus on interior design projects and products without regard to size, budget or location. We welcome submissions from interior designers, architects, interior architects, decorators, and crafts persons. Having reached the ripe age of 21 means Best of Canada is old enough to…
We were surprised last Friday evening at the OAA Awards Ceremony to receive the 2018 Michael V. and Wanda Plachta Award. The prize honors architectural excellence for projects in Ontario that cost no more than 8 million dollars. This annual award was established in 1991 by Mrs. Wanda Plachta in honour of her late husband, Michael…
Shane has been named a Fellow of the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada (RAIC). The College of Fellows of the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada (RAIC) bestows Fellowship to RAIC members in recognition of outstanding achievement. Criteria include design excellence, exceptional scholarly contribution, or distinguished service to the profession or the community.
The Mies Crown Hall Americas Prize (MCHAP) recognizes outstanding built works of architecture that acknowledge the altered circumstances of the human condition in our contemporary age. Honoring projects that consider how we might elevate the quality of our built environments by extending our interests beyond the proverbial four walls, the MCHAP process examines the many…
The House on Ancaster Creek has been named a winner of an Award of Excellence from the Ontario Association of Architects. The Awards of Excellence recognize the innovative skills of Ontario architects in creating spaces, buildings, and communities that respect and enhance the environment and enrich human activity. “Every year it is a privilege to honour the…
We are excited to announce that the House on Ancaster Creek has been shortlisted for the annual Interior Design Best of Year Awards, sponsored by Interior Design magazine. Congratulations to all those shortlisted, and we look forward to the announcement and party on December 1st in New York City – and the Michelangelo show is on…
Architects, engineers, developers and other construction industry professionals at the forefront of wood design in Ontario came together to celebrate excellence in wood design at the 17th annual Wood WORKS! Awards night in Toronto on November 2, 2017. The awards program honours people and organizations that, through design excellence, advocacy, and innovation, are advancing the use of wood…
The Town of Niagara-on-the-Lake’s annual Celebration of Heritage commemorates Niagara-on-the-Lake’s heritage and pays tribute to those members of the community who have made a significant contribution to the preservation of historical property. The Exchange Brewery is proud to be a recipient of a 2017 Commendation for Heritage Restoration. It is always rewarding to see our…
Each year the CaGBC Greater Toronto Chapter Chapter hosts its annual Innovation Awards Program which distinguishes individuals in the green building industry, as well as projects in Southern Ontario which go above and beyond the normal scope of sustainable best practices. Grange Triple Double was selected by the jury as the winner for the Innovation…
The Exchange Brewery has received a 2016 Canadian Interiors Best of Canada Award in the retail category. Canadian Interiors’ annual Best of Canada Design Competition is the country’s only design competition to focus on interior design projects and products without regard to size, budget or location. Categories for project submissions include: exhibit; hospitality; institutional; marketing; office;…
Grange Triple Double is the recipient of a 2016 Canadian Green Building Award from the Canada Green Building Council [CaGBC]. Winning projects will be published in the Summer issues of SABMag and ecoHouse Canada, and on websites www.sabmagazine.com, and www.ecohome.net.
Betsy Williamson has been elected to the College of Fellows of the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada. The RAIC bestows Fellowship in recognition of outstanding achievement. Criteria include design excellence, exceptional scholarly contribution or distinguished service to the profession or the community. Representing Canada coast-to-coast, the 41 new Fellows come from Charlottetown, Pokemouche, St. John’s,…
Grange Triple Double has been named a finalist for an Award of Excellence from the Ontario Association of Architects. The Awards of Excellence recognize the innovative skills of Ontario architects in creating spaces, buildings, and communities that respect and enhance the environment and enrich human activity. Award recipients will be honoured at the Celebration of Excellence Awards…
Each year, Wallpaper Magazine publishes a list of 20 firms that they see as the rising star and breakthrough practices from around the globe. We are pleased to announce that the 2015 Architects Directory has been announced and Williamson Chong is featured on the list. A full digital feature is featured on the Wallpaper website.
The Architects’ Journal, a leading architectural publication in Britain, has revealed the finalists for both the 2015 Woman Architect of the Year and the Emerging Woman Architect of the Year Awards. Ten up-and-coming stars have made it onto the shortlist for the AJ’s fourth Emerging Woman Architect of the Year Award. Betsy Williamson is the…
Canadian Architect has announced that the House on Fox Lake is the recipient of a 2014 Award of Excellence. One of only two national award programs devoted exclusively to architecture, the Awards of Excellence have recognized significant building projects in Canada on an annual basis since 1968. Awards are given each year to architects for buildings in…
Interior design Magazine has just announced the 2014 Best of Year nominees and Pilot Coffee Roasters is a finalist in the Cafe category. We won an Award of Merit and had a wonderful evening cheering on the Toronto offices and their many wins throughout the night!
Williamson Chong is honoured to have 3 projects selected for the 2014 Residential Architect Design Awards. The winning projects were selected from nearly 700 entries and “represent some of the best residential architecture that North America has to offer””from luxurious custom beachside estates, to net-zero prefab infill, to high-density affordable living units.” Jurors included Cary Bernstein, AIA,…
Williamson Chong is honoured to be the recipient of the 2014 Royal Architectural Institute of Canada (RAIC) Emerging Architectural Practice Award. This award is to recognize the principals of an emerging architectural practice that has consistently produced distinguished architecture. The award recognizes the achievements of the principals for the quality of their built work, service to their clients,…
The WAN AWARDS 21 for 21 category is a major international competition now in its fourth year. It is an initiative aiming to highlight 21 architects who could be the leading lights of architecture in the 21st century. WAN will be selecting outstanding, forward-thinking people and organizations who have the demonstrable potential to be the…
Williamson Chong is honoured to have been selected by the Architecture League for it’s Emerging Voices Award. Each year the League selects eight emerging practitioners through a juried, invited portfolio competition. The Emerging Voices award spotlights individuals and firms based in the United States, Canada, or Mexico with distinct design voices and the potential to…
Add-on ’13 is a two-phase competition for a freestanding, affordable, accessory dwelling unit on Cape Cod, Massachusetts. Williamson Chong developed a first round proposal that adopted fresh thinking about housing, resource conservation, and the relationship between the natural and built environment. As stated in the design brief, “Add-on is a way to consider the role of affordable housing…
The Professional Prix de Rome in Architecture is awarded annually to an architectural firm that has completed its first built works and has demonstrated exceptional artistic potential. The prize encourages the development of artistic excellence in contemporary architectural practice by supporting the winner to travel around the world to develop their skills, their creative practice…
Natural Light brought to you by Tiltco Fenestration, Kilbarry Hill Construction, and Williamson Chong Architects, received a Gold Award at the 2012 Interior Design Show. Conceived as a hybrid mock-up of a forthcoming residence designed by Williamson Chong, the booth features an origami like ceiling, walls built from an array of uniquely designed windows, including…
Canadian Architect has announced that Abbey Gardens is the receipient of a 2011 Award of Excellence. One of only two national award programs devoted exclusively to architecture, the Awards of Excellence have recognized significant building projects in Canada on an annual basis since 1968. Awards are given each year to architects for buildings in the design…
The House in Frogs Hollow has received a 2011 Wood WORKS! Award. The Wood WORKS! Awards recognize the people and organizations pursuing excellence and innovation in wood design, advancing the use of wood in Ontario. The 11th Annual Wood WORKS! Awards evening took place on Thursday November 3, 2011 at the Ottawa Convention Centre.
Williamson Chong’s design for a new skating pavilion in Edmonton’s Victoria Park has won a citation award in the open design competition sponsored by the city of Edmonton. More information about this award can be found here.
The House in Frogs Hollow has won a 2011 Wood Design Award. “The Wood Design Awards is the only North American Program to recognize, award and publicize excellence in wood architecture, and to publicly acknowledge the importance of architecture to our society…The selection of the 13 winning projects was challenging for the jury, as all of…
The House in Frogs Hollow has won a 2010 Design Exchange Award for residential architecture. The project received a bronze award at last night’s ceremony. It was wonderful to spend the evening with friends and colleagues and support Canadian design. The DX Awards celebrate excellence in Canadian design, successful partnerships between designers and clients, and…
The House in Frogs Hollow has won a 2010 Award of Excellence from the Ontario Association of Architects. The Awards of Excellence recognize the innovative skills of Ontario architects in creating spaces, buildings, and communities that respect and enhance the environment and enrich human activity. Award recipients will be honoured at the Celebration of Excellence…
We are honoured to be included in the National Post’s “40 Under 40″ listing of fresh ideas from young Canadian designers. Along with distinguished designers in the fields of fashion, furniture, industrial design and crafts, we are happy to share this honor with our friends and colleagues, superkul inc architect.
We are honored to receive the Ronald J. Thom Award for Early Design Achievement from the Canada Council for the Arts. The award is given to a candidate who is in the early stages of their career and who demonstrates both outstanding creative talent and exceptional potential in architectural design. The successful candidate must also demonstrate…
WILLIAMSONWILLIAMSON are winners in the Architectural League of New York’s 25th annual Young Architects Forum Competition. Their work, along with that of the five other winners, will be featured in a book to be published by Princeton Architectural Press. An exhibition of the work will be open to the public on April 27th at the…
WILLIAMSONWILLIAMSON was a finalist in the 2004 Burnham Prize Competition, Urban Waterways: The Chicago River Project. The Burnham Prize is a two-stage biennial competition sponsored by the Chicago Architectural Club, the winner of which is awarded a three month scholarship for study at the American Center in Rome. The program for the 2004 competition was…
WILLIAMSONWILLIAMSON are finalists in The Pentagon Memorial Competition, a two-stage, open international design competition for a memorial to the victims of the September 11, 2001 attack on the Pentagon in Arlington, VA. More than 1,200 architects, artists, designers, school children, and members of the general public from around the world submitted concepts for consideration. Six finalists were…
Betsy is honored to be included in Agata Toromanoff’s new book Raising the Roof. This timely book celebrates the inspirational achievements of women architects in every corner of the world. Historically, women architects were disappointingly absent in the news and at awards ceremonies, but now they are spearheading some of the most exciting and important…
Thanks to Beth Broome and Architectural Record for profiling our work at Osler Bluff Ski Club. “… As any alpine skier can tell you, terrain and snow conditions are what it’s all about. The ski lodge comes in a distant second, little more than a place to seek nourishment and warm up between runs. A…
Thank you, Elsa Lam and Canadian Architect for profiling our recent addition and renovation of Osler Bluff Ski Club. “…In 1949, two friends who had tired of the long lines at Quebec’s ski hills set out to found a new ski club north of Toronto. When looking for a site, the pair heard from local…
Osler Bluff Ski Club receives a Canadian Interiors Best of Canada 2020 award in the institutional category.
We appreciate Elsa Lam’s invitation to write about how the pandemic can affect change in our offices via inclusionary practices. Here is a taste – please visit Canadian Architect to read the entire issue. The atomization of architecture offices during the pandemic presented an immediate and profound change that no one could have anticipated. It’s…
BMD covers the March issue of Canadian Interiors. Thank you for including this project in your run-down of new workspaces for A+D firms that foster collaboration in the creative process. The talent at BMD is unparalleled and it was an intense experience to bring this space to life. A special thanks has to go to…
Pilot | Wafstaff was recently profiled in Robert Schneider’s book Cafe Culture. “…Pilot Coffe Roasters design is thoughtful with every element carefully considered and crafted. It effortlessly evokes the brand of the company—clean, minimal, modern. At the same time, it embodies the core values of the company—consistency and quality. The result is a modern space…
Stafford Extension was recently profiled in DesignLines Magazine. “…A home office and a personal Pilates studio might not seem like complementary environments to combine into one space. Yet responding to the his-and-hers wishlists of young parents seeking to expand their Queen West home, Williamson Williamson (formerly Williamson Chong) devised for the couple a serene addition…
“As architect Betsy Williamson describes, for a home that needed to manage intergenerational living, the client brief was refreshingly succinct. “The client is a couple and the parents of one of the members of the couple are elderly and needed an accessible apartment effectively within the home so that they could all live together. It was…
Thanks to Shawna Wynne at Reno+Decor for profiling our multi-generation home, the House on Acaster Creek. “…In Canada, multi-generational living arrangements are among the fastest growing household type, with the 2016 Census showing a 37.5 per cent increase in the number of multi-generational households since 2001. There are several factors contributing to their increasing popularity…
Stafford Extension was recently profiled by Dwell online. “…Traditional in the front, modern in the back, this historic home ushers light in through a 14-foot glass wall.For a number of years, the small family residing in a coveted, West End Victorian in Toronto was content with their home. Over time, though, they began to crave…
“Custom rift-cut white oak tables and steel structural beams painted the company’s signature Pilot Yellow brighten up a sunny staff cafe at its rooftop administrative office.” Thank you Interior Design. It is always an honour to be included in your pages.
As part of the NZIA In Situ Conference, Betsy was interviewed by Sean Flanagan. “…There are urgent social issues to be debated in architecture right now – high rates of under employment, low and unequal pay and fees, terrible work-life balance, sexual politics, equity for women, mountainous student debt, and a lack of access for…
“Canadian architecture firm Williamson Williamson has added administrative offices on top of a coffee roastery in Toronto, where structural elements are highlighted in bright yellow. Pilot Coffee Roasters is an independent company with a handful of cafes in the greater Toronto area. Its roasting facility was designed in 2014 inside a former warehouse by local firm Williamson Williamson. The studio…
Wallpaper* publishes the freshest work in office design and features Pilot Coffee Roasters new head office. “Williamson Williamson’s new office for Pilot Coffee upgrades an earlier project by bringing a head office into an established roastery and cafe….When it came to extending this burgeoning business’ space, the best option was a rooftop addition, hung on…
“What were the design needs you had to meet in building an inter-generational home? For this house, it was clear the communal living was going to be on the ground floor. It was where the parents would have their privacy and connections to the backyard but also be able to connect and share time with…
“In true summer-house fashion, Pilot Coffee Roasters’ seasonal pop-up in Ontario’s Prince Edward County distills the burgeoning espresso empire’s primary outlets into a smaller version that opens up to the great outdoors. Credit Williamson Williamson for the skillful downsizing. Back in 2013, Pilot co-founders Jessie and Andy Wilkin enlisted the architecture studio – then Williamson…
“Ancaster Creek is Williamson Williamson’s first dual-generational residence set in a semi-rural context, allowing the architects the luxury of opening the plan to a wetland site. Situated in a bedroom community of Hamilton, Ontario, its lower façade is clad in locally quarried Algonquin limestone. Its progressively compressed courses—diminishing in height from 12” at the top…
” This Ontario home rethinks suburban norms, sticking all the standard pieces on a highly unusual floor plan. And it won’t be the last of its kind. Every family is different. Why are so many family homes the same? The North American ideal of the nuclear family has shaped the way we live for a century…
“For a certain doctor in Ontario, there was never any doubt. He always knew that he would take care of his mom and dad in their old age. When the time came, they moved into the basement of a bungalow that he shared with a social worker, the man he planned to marry. After an…
Last night was a beautiful evening spent at the Palais Royal enjoying the late summer warmth and the lake view while celebrating the winners of this year’s Toronto Urban Design Awards. Betsy spent two days on the jury in June with Elsa Lam, David Anselmi, and Gary McCluskie visiting nearly three dozen projects before narrowing the…
We are always honored to be featured by Architectural Record. It is a publication that we have admired since we were students and to be included in its pages, digitally or in print, is something that we never take for granted. Thank you to the amazing editorial staff for always looking out for out best…
“On Tranby Avenue, history is for the birds. Stained-glass birds nest in almost every transom on this narrow east Annex street, the work of the artisan Robert McCausland when its houses were built around 1890. Most of these birds have been preserved and refurbished – including the one on No. 66, which was cleaned up…
Our renovation of an 1892 Victorian House in the Annex has caught the attention of Designlines’ editor Tory Healy. Along with Darcy and Alexis of 3Gen Developments, our job was to make this complicated renovation look effortless. As noted by writer Matthew Hague, “The strategy was simple: rooms that were in good condition were preserved,…
Grange Triple Double is profiled in the recent issue of Monocle as part of a piece titled Generation Gaps [Housing]. Sophie Grove puts forward the preface that “Our grandparents deserve a better standard of care and that calls for a multigenerational approach – hence a new model that makes the presence of youth in old people’s…
The Grange Triple Double House was chosen for the WOOD 2016/TRÄ 2016 exhibition in Virserum Art Museum in Sweden. The projects of the exhibition were chosen via a triennial, international architecture competition, Architecture of Necessity. The competition and exhibition aim to gather and present ideas and solutions for sustainable architecture. The WOOD 2016/TRÄ 2016 exhibition…
As the recipient of a 2016 Canadian Green Building Award, Grange Triple Double is featured in the Summer issue of SABMag (Sustainable Architecture & Building Magazine)
Writer Martha Breen eloquently tells the story of the Grange Triple Double. The house is a contemporary contextualization of the site and neighborhood while at the same time, a forward thinking solution for the ‘sandwich generation,’ describing how a young family can accommodate the needs of both children and parents on an urban lot in…
“Canadian architecture practice Williamson Chong has transformed a narrow Edwardian property in a suburban neighborhood of Toronto. The existing home was a poorly renovated residence, and required a complete overhaul in order to provide spacious and comfortable living accommodation. Beginning at the front elevation, every effort was made to produce open and airy family-oriented spaces out…
“Young adults are getting squeezed out of the housing market. Their parents, meanwhile, want to downsize without leaving familiar neighbourhoods. The solution couldn’t be simpler to a growing group of designers: Rethink (and rebuild) the family home to suit several generations for the long haul. …Such adaptability can be built into a house’s architecture. One…
Architectural Record reports on the latest work being developed in our office. We are excited to be featured in their February issue. “The architects are further investigating multigenerational living in their Ancaster Creek House (set for completion this April), an elegant modernist dwelling composed of two double- height volumes, linked by a central glazed dining…
Designlines Annual Homes issue has come out and features an article on the house we recently completed on Roxborough Street in Toronto. The thoroughly modern clients encouraged us to strip away the dark and deteriorated parts of an old Toronto home and re-engage light and space. Creating a four story curved volume through the home…
In an interview with the Architectural League of New York’s program director, Anne Rieselbach and executive director, Rosalie Genevro, Paul Makovsky writes about Emerging Voices’ enduring mission. We are so proud to have been a winner in the 2014 Emerging Voices Series. In this article, the work of Williamson Chong is prominently featured alongside Steven…
Each year, Wallpaper Magazine publishes a list of 20 firms that they see as the rising star and breakthrough practices from around the globe. We are pleased to announce that the 2015 Architects Directory has been announced and Williamson Chong is featured on the list. A full digital feature is featured on the Wallpaper website.
“The breeze flowing over your table as you’re sitting down to dinner on a summer evening,” the owner says, is one of the best experiences they’ve had in the house: “There are those magical moments when you feel you’re connected to the place.” When nature provides you with magic, sometimes the wisest course is to…
“Now in its fourth year, the AJ’s Women in Architecture programme continues to promote equality in the profession and to host the annual WIA Awards.” England’s The Architects’ Journal has a wonderful issue out on women in the profession. Betsy is featured as a finalist in the Emerging Architect Prize Category and the magazine is…
On the heels of the finals of the Interior Design Best of Year Awards, Pilot has been published in Interior Design Magazine with the other winners.
Designboom just posted some great images and an article about Pilot Coffee Roasters. It was great to meet Birgit Lohmann and take her through the space. We hope you enjoyed the rest of your time in Toronto.
The House on Fox Lake, which won an award of excellence in the 2014 Canadian Architect Awards, is featured on the cover of the the awards issue of Canadian Architect. Inside, you can find the jury comments, project images, and great coverage of the other award winners.
“Williamson Chong’s installation of sculpted forms and prints is a tribute to wood’s beauty and malleability, and to the expressive lyricism that wood, trees and forests have inspired in poetry, art and architecture since antiquity,” John Bentley Mays eloquently writes on the Living Wood exhibition now installed at the Corkin Gallery in the Distillery District.…
Ellen Himelfarb profiles Williamson Chong as part of The New Radicals series in the Globe and Mail. The article speaks to our research travel in the last two years as well as the exhibition that opens on November 20, at the Corkin Gallery. “They’re at the forefront where theories of design and technological advancement come…
It is an honour to have Domus publish the House in Frogs Hollow in their online publication. The layout is beautiful and the format suits the project well. You can see the project here.
Of 700 entries and 26 victors, Williamson Chong took home three awards at this year’s Residential Architect Awards! “These winners represent some of the best residential architecture that North America has to offer… The assembled winners represent the hopefulness of a market that is recovering, if not recovered, and transitioning, if not transformed. Such are…
“One of the most striking features of the house is the sliding east window wall at the rear of the house, which blurs the distinction between interior and exterior space. This absence of boundary is further enhanced by the wraparound condition at the corner, where the north wall of glass also pulls away, creating a…
The House in Frogs Hollow is now live on the Phaidon Atlas! Here is a link. The Phaidon Atlas is now an on-line idea as opposed to a printed volume. This allows projects to be uploaded by the editors as they are completed which makes it current and timely. We have already starting exploring the website…
Ninan and his team have put together a fantastic issue of EDITION29 on the House in Frogs Hollow. It is designed for the iPad and is accompanied by an oral description of the house culled from a conversation between Ninan and Betsy last month. We are very excited to show our work this way and…
Alex Bozikovic from The Globe and Mail recommends a visit to Pilot Coffee Roasters in Doors Open Toronto: 10 things you need to see this weekend. This weekend’s Doors Open festival is an opportunity to explore some of the best of Toronto’s architecture. Running both Saturday and Sunday, the event features 155 of Toronto’s most interesting places, and each…
“Towards a New Pro Forma: Making the case for a new urban prototype where multi-generational living is the natural buy-in.” Metropolis Magazine invited us to envision a multi-generational home for this century. We responded by featuring the Grange Triple Double and showing how it can accommodate a flexible three- or four- generational living condition that…
“From roasting to cupping, Pilot’s micro-roastery offers coffee aficionados and baristas a one stop shop for mastering their brewing…” Thank you to Azure for spreading the word on this great coffee shop and especially to Alison Garwood-Jones for the wonderful article.
blogTo calls out one of our newest projects completed for Pilot Coffee Roasters. Pilot Coffee Roasters have outdone themselves. They moved the roaster at Te Aro into 50 Wagstaff Drive, making a combination roastery, lab, tasting bar and distribution centre that’s slick, gorgeous and technically impressive. It’s unlikely that you’ll find another place in the city (or the country…
It was a pleasure working with the editors of Arch Daily to post this project. You can find the link here.
“Torontonians are finally rejecting fussy Victorian architecture and going bold. In almost every neighbourhood, there’s a house or two that stands out…Here, a look inside some of our favourites.” The November issue of Toronto Life features Blantyre House in a feature on new homes in Toronto.
“Betsy Williamson ’88 is an artist. Her medium is wood, her palette is very large, and her official job title is architect, but in Williamson’s mind, the two disciplines are inextricably linked.” Many architects will tell you that they have wanted to be architects since they were kids. Betsy locked in after taking a series…
“For a Toronto couple with a love of minimalist Japanese architecture, a sleek, storage-packed kitchen was the first priority in their home.” Dwell Magazine has done us right this month with a double page feature on the Blantyre House kitchen. Writer Alex Bozikovic talks about the design of the “kitchen studio” as the centre of this new…
The Canadian Wood Council just released a publication celebrating the 2011-12 North American Wood Design Award Winners. This is a follow-up feature for the House in Frogs Hollow which has now been recognized for a 2010-11 North American Wood Design Award and a 2011-12 Ontario Wood WORKS! Award. The jury for this past year included…
Sometimes the details get noticed…On the Pleasures of the Window Seat in today’s Globe and Mail. The window bench in the House in Frogs Hollow was conceived of for a fairly practical reason. The Loewen window we used only came about 7-1/2′ tall. We didn’t want to have a transom above the window to fill the 9′ tall…
It was a pleasant surprise to get a call from the Globe and Mail this week when they decided to feature the residence we renovated in the Annex. The full article is featured on their website and there is a nice slideshow as well. We are happy that the convertibility of the student lodging on the upper floor…
This is the first time we have had a project in Architectural Record and we couldn’t be more excited about it. The Blantyre House, with its ‘kitchen studio’ that opens the ground floor up to become a contiguous space with the street and the back yard, has been chosen for the 2012 Record Kitchen &…
“Advances in building technologies are expanding the architectural possibilities of wood. Toronto-based Williamson Chong Architects will be spending their Prix de Rome winnings on a road trip to scout out new uses for high-tech timber.” – John Bentley Mays We have already started planning our first trip for Spring 2013. We are getting great responses from the folks working in…
Our favorite freebie in Toronto has got to be Design Lines. Listing all the best places to shop, eat, and mine for inspiration, we always end up with a few on the coffee table. We are very happy to have a project featured in the fall issue. Our Howland Avenue Residence modernizes a former rooming…
“Too many newly-built homes in Toronto are muscle-bound hulks bullying their way into established neighbourhoods. Williamson Chong’s new Scarborough project shows a thoughtful, sensitive alternative.” – John Bentley Mays The Blantyre House is an example of one of our ground-up infill projects that contributes to our developing notion of ‘incremental urbanism’ in Toronto. Thanks to…
We just received the publication put out by the City of Edmonton that chronicles the entries for the Park Pavilion Design Competition held last year. Our Victoria Park entry, Aspen Overpass, is on pages 108 and 109. When we look at the competition boards, all we smell is pizza. So much work went into these…
We are so pleased to be included in this year’s City Home guide. Look for us on page 105. There is a nice photo of the office and descriptions of the 16 most incredible offices in the city!
Dean Kaufman’s aerial photo of the Galley House garden in bloom is one of our favorite images of this space. Thanks again to Dwell for its continued support of this project.
The House in Frogs Hollow has been included in Architectural Record’s March 2012 “All in the Details” section of featured houses. Special thanks to Alex Bozikovic for the write-up.
Abbey Gardens is in distinguished company in this year’s Awards of Excellence. The December issue of Canadian Architect highlights all the winning projects.
The Canadian Wood Council just released a publication celebrating the 2010-11 North American Wood Design Award Winners. The House in Frogs Hollow is featured along with the work from Studio Gang Architects, IwamotoScott Architecture, Cutler Anderson Architects, David J. Agro, Eskew+Dumez+Ripple, Mankouche/Bard/Schulte, Flansburgh Architects, Robert M. Cain, Lewis.Tsurumaki.Lewis Architects, HGA Architects and Engineers, The Miller Hull Partnership, StructureCraft…
We spent a lovely afternoon with John Bentley Mays at the House in Frogs Hollow and enjoyed his reading of the house featured in last week’s Globe and Mail. The article can be found on The Globe and Mail’s website with a slideshow of images by Bob Gundu. John Bentley Mays, “Grey County Home Rides…
Will Jones introduces Toronto’s infill housing to Croatia. The Galley House is featured this month in Oris, a magazine for architecture and culture that is published bimonthly as a Croatian-English edition.
Our firm has be profiled in the April 2011 issue of Canadian Builders Quarterly, featuring the House in Frogs Hollow.
Thank you to Lucie Lavigne from La Presse for including two of our projects in the French language publication Construire, Renover, Transformer.
Plan Magazine, out of Dublin, Ireland, has chosen The House in Frogs Hollow as one of its featured “one-off houses.” Bob Gundu’s photographs look amazing.
Jin-Young Yoo, “Unique Homes: House in Frogs Hollow,” Casa Living, April 2010; p. 211.
Night shots by Colin Field are featured in this article.
Galley House, Small Fridges Make Good Cities, and our competition entry for the New National Library for the Czech Republic have been published in Twenty + Change.
Door with Peephole is featured in Lisa Iwamoto’s new book on digital fabrication.
Look for Stock Space alongside the work of Andrew Kudless and Kevin Klinger in the May/June issue of AD.
One of our CNC milled pieces from the Topologies series lands on the cover of Canadian Architect this month. Also be sure to check out the back page which features Smoke Tray. Chodikoff, Ian. “Smoke and Mirrors.” Canadian Architect June 2007: 50.
PAP did a wonderful job on the publication that accompanies the Young Architects Award from the Architectural league of New York. It has just been published.
Shane contributes a paper to this year’s ACADIA Conference Proceedings. Williamson, Shane. “Stock Space.” Synthetic Landscapes | Digital Exchange. Ed. Cory Clarke, Gregory Luhan, Phillip Anzalone, and Mark Cabrinha. University of Kentucky: Association for Computer Aided Design in Architecture (ACADIA), 2006. 546-47.
Williamson, Shane. “Stock Space.” Responsive Architectures: Subtle Technologies 2006. Ed. Philip Beesley, Sachiko Hirosue, Jim Ruxton, Marion Trankle, and Camille Turner. [Cambridge, Ont.]: Riverside Architectural, 2006. 152-57.
Published twice a year, Designlines Toronto is brought to you by Azure, Canada’s leading magazine of architecture, design, and art. It serves as a city and neighborhood guide to the best design sources Toronto has to offer. Our digital design and fabrication work is featured in an interview with Elizabeth Pagliacolo. Pagliacolo, Elizabeth. “New Wave.”…
DogTrot was featured on Inhabitat in March of 2006. The link is no longer active.
Scalar is featured in the latest issue of Thresholds.
http://www.architectureweek.com/2004/1215/tools_1-1.html
Shane Williamson co-chairs “FABRICATION: A Conference Examining the Digital Practice of Architecture,” the 23rd Annual Conference of the Association for Computer Aided Design in Architecture (ACADIA), the American Institute of Architects (AIA) and Technology and Practice (TAP). The FABRICATION conference was held November 11-14, 2004, at the Faculty of Architecture, University of Waterloo and the Faculty…
Shane juries the 2004 Digital Media Awards sponsored by Canadian Architect. “Speculative Conception: Digital Media Awards 2004,” Canadian Architect, vol. 49, no. 6, June 2004; 19-25.