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Gow Hastings Architects

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Gow Hastings Architects
Practice information
Firm typeArchitecture firm
Key architectsAllan Baniña, associate

Andrew Chiu, architect
Janice Lee, senior architect
Juliana Lee, architect
Anne Ma, architect
Hugo Martins, associate
Rebecca Wei, senior architect

Stephen Wenzel, architect
PartnersValerie Gow
Philip Hastings
FoundersValerie Gow
Philip Hastings
Founded2002
LocationToronto, Ontario. Canada
Significant works and honors
AwardsBest of Canada, 2009, 2018

OAA Award, 2009
ARIDO, 2009, 2016, 2021

TUDA, 2019
Website
gowhastings.com

Gow Hastings Architects is a Canadian architectural firm specializing in post-secondary, commercial, and public buildings. Founded in 2002 by Valerie Gow and Philip Hastings, the Toronto-based firm has designed over 350 teaching and learning spaces for institutions across Ontario.[1]

History

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Both graduates of the University of British Columbia, Valerie Gow and Philip Hastings founded Gow Hastings Architects in 2002 after working independently in Vancouver and London.[2] Their offices are at 275 Spadina Road in Toronto.

From 2003 onwards, Gow Hastings received progressively larger commissions from post-secondary clients in Southern Ontario. In the late 2000s, the firm was considered the “village” architect for Humber College, where it completed over thirty projects that cemented its reputation in educational design.[3] Gow Hastings were also recognized for their postsecondary culinary expertise.[4]

Valerie Gow was inducted into the Royal Architecture Institute of Canada (RAIC) College of Fellows in 2016.[5] Philip Hastings became a RAIC Fellow in 2018.[6]

Selected projects

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George Brown College

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In 2009, Gow Hastings designed two buildings for George Brown College with Kearns Mancini Architects. The college's Centre for Hospitality & Culinary Arts and The Chefs’ House Restaurant introduced transparency and hands-on learning to the design of Canada's culinary schools.[7] To engage passersby and encourage enrolment in the culinary program, both buildings feature a glass wall that reveals the chefs and teaching kitchens to the street.[8] In the culinary labs, cameras and screens help students get close-up views of live cooking demonstrations.[9]

In 2009, these projects won the Ontario Association of Architects Award for Design Excellence, an ARIDO Award, and the Best of Canada Award.[10]

Humber College

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As Humber College's "village architect" from 2009 to 2010, Gow Hastings created numerous hands-on learning environments that closely replicate professional working scenarios.[3] For example, the Centre for Trades and Technology (2009) includes two full-scale townhouses where students can practice woodworking, welding, plumbing, and electrical work.[1] The Music Production & Recording Studio (2009) is a 1980s building retrofitted by Gow Hastings to create the optimal environment for music recording.[11] The design team also converted several non-institutional buildings for educational purposes, including converting a car sales center into the Centre for Justice Leadership (2010), an ice hockey rink into a Performing Arts School (2010), and a bar into a Fashion Institute (2010).[12][13]

Galen Weston Centre for Food

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The Durham College W Galen Weston Centre for Food is an infill building located in Whitby, Ontario. Completed in 2015, the building embodies the school's farm-to-fork values and nods to its rural setting.[14] Gow Hastings designed a two-storey edible herb wall on the interior and glass partitions that provides views into laboratories and kitchens. The building also incorporates sustainable elements such as solar panels, an insulating green roof, and a rooftop apiary.[15] The project won a 2016 ARIDO Award for its innovative green design.[16]

Ryerson University Student ServiceHub

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One of the firm's several projects completed for Ryerson University, the Student ServiceHub renovated a 1,250 square metres (13,500 sq ft) Brutalist-era cafeteria into a Registrar's Office.[17] Ryerson's admissions, enrolment, and financial services were located in three different buildings on the downtown campus.[18] In 2016, Gow Hastings designed a hub that brought these operations together. Their design integrated environmental graphics and coloured-glass space dividers to reflect the university's branding. The project won a 2016 ARIDO award for its interior design.[19]

Odeyto Indigenous Centre

Seneca College Odeyto Indigenous Centre

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Main article: Odeyto Indigenous Centre

In 2018, Gow Hastings completed the Odeyto Indigenous Centre, a multi-purpose facility for First Peoples at Seneca College in Toronto, in collaboration with Two Row Architects.[20] [21] The Odeyto building takes its name from the Anishinaabe word for “good journey”. Its shape was inspired by a canoe pulling up to a dock.[22] Odeyto was named one of the 10 Best Canadian Architecture Projects of 2018 by Azure magazine.[23] In 2019, Odeyto received a Toronto Urban Design Award (TUDA) in the category Public Buildings in Context.[24]

Fleming College A-Wing

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In 2019, the firm renovated and upgraded Fleming College’s A-Wing building at its Sutherland Campus in Peterborough, Ontario.[25] The project included cladding the imposing brutalist institution with yellow and white-coloured folded aluminum panels and adding extensive glazing to draw natural light indoors.[26] The project was considered an exercise in “overwriting” a dated building with a contemporary aesthetic.[27] In 2019, this building was featured in Architect, the journal of the American Institute of Architects.[28] It also received an ARIDO Award in the LEARN category in 2021.[29]

References

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  1. ^ a b Bentley Mays, John (2010-04-30). "Class act". Canadian Interiors. Retrieved 2020-06-02.
  2. ^ "Class act". Canadian Interiors. 2010-04-30. Retrieved 2020-06-24.
  3. ^ a b Chodikoff, Ian (2005-08-31). "Kick It Up a Notch!". Canadian Architect. Retrieved 2020-06-02.
  4. ^ Marston, Yvan (February 2014). "Durham College Centre for Food". AWARD. p. 67.
  5. ^ "2016 RAIC Fellows". raic.org. Retrieved 2020-06-02.
  6. ^ "2016 RAIC Fellows". raic.org. Retrieved 2020-06-02.
  7. ^ Hume, Christopher (2012-08-23). "George Brown cooking school fit for future celebrity chefs: Hume". thestar.com. Retrieved 2020-06-02.
  8. ^ "George Brown College Centre for Hospitality and Culinary Arts". Canadian Interiors. 2009-11-01. Retrieved 2020-06-02.
  9. ^ "Yes, chef, yes! George Brown unveils its hospitality jewel". Retrieved 2020-06-02.
  10. ^ "Past OAA Award Winners | Ontario Association of Architects". oaa.on.ca. Archived from the original on 2019-02-21. Retrieved 2020-06-02.
  11. ^ Bozikovic, Alex (September 2008). "Beat Box". Azure.
  12. ^ Totzke, Michael (2013-08-31). "School colours". Canadian Interiors. Retrieved 2020-06-02.
  13. ^ Hume, Christopher (2010-11-05). "Sleuth school solves mystery of revitalizing Etobicoke". thestar.com. Retrieved 2020-06-02.
  14. ^ "Durham College Centre for Food by Gow Hastings Architects". www.dexigner.com. Retrieved 2020-06-02.
  15. ^ Pagliacolo, Elizabeth (2015-10-27). "From Field to Fork, A Culinary School That Satisfies". Azure Magazine. Retrieved 2020-06-02.
  16. ^ "DC's Centre for Food wins prestigious design award". Durham College. 2016-01-14. Retrieved 2020-06-02.
  17. ^ Dick-Agnew, David (2016-09-07). "Gow Hastings' Revitalized Ryerson Student Hub". Azure Magazine. Retrieved 2020-06-02.
  18. ^ "Aiming Higher: Ryerson Service Hub, Orchard Commons, University College of the North, Alouette UQAC University Building". Canadian Architect. 2016-10-27. Retrieved 2020-06-02.
  19. ^ "Student ServiceHub earns ARIDO award - REMI Network". REMINET. Retrieved 2020-06-02.
  20. ^ "Indigenous culture influences design of new campus hub". Construction Canada. 2018-10-01. Retrieved 2020-06-02.
  21. ^ Dolick, Paul (2019-05-08). "The Good Journey: Odeyto Indigenous Centre, Toronto, Ontario". Canadian Architect. Retrieved 2022-09-15.
  22. ^ Miller, Jason (2019-03-02). "Purpose-built Indigenous centre buoying the slow paddle towards reconciliation at Seneca College". thestar.com. Retrieved 2020-06-02.
  23. ^ "The 10 Best Canadian Architecture Projects of 2018". Azure Magazine. 2018-12-21. Retrieved 2020-06-02.
  24. ^ "Winners of 2019 Toronto Urban Design Awards announced tonight". wx.toronto.ca. Retrieved 2020-06-02.
  25. ^ Lam, Elsa (2019-10-17). "Fleming College A-Wing, Sutherland Campus, Peterborough, Ontario". Canadian Architect. Retrieved 2020-06-02.
  26. ^ Dorris, Jesse (2020-03-04). "Gow Hastings Architects Gives a Breezy Update to Ontario's Fleming College". Interior Design. Retrieved 2020-06-02.
  27. ^ BauNetz (2020-04-08). "Erfrischung im laufenden Betrieb - College-Umbau in Peterborough von Gow Hastings Architects". BauNetz (in German). Retrieved 2020-06-02.
  28. ^ "Fleming College A-Wing, Sutherland Campus". Architect Magazine. 18 September 2019. Retrieved 2022-09-15.
  29. ^ Gow, Valarie (2021-10-06). "ARIDO Award Winner: Fleming College A-Wing, Sutherland Campus | ARIDO". Retrieved 2022-09-15.
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