Year in review: Highlights from 2025

December 17, 2025

Despite the global economic headwinds facing the AEC industry, 2025 at KPMB was a year of big ideas, engaging design challenges, and meaningful recognition for our contributions to the built environment.  

From receiving the highest individual honours in Canadian architecture to reinventing cultural landmarks for new use, here are 10 moments, accomplishments, and conversations that defined our year. 

A pair of RAIC Gold Medals 

In April, KPMB founding partners Marianne McKenna and Shirley Blumberg were both recognized with Gold Medals from the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada (RAIC) — the profession’s highest individual honours in Canada — for their contributions to architecture and design. 

In Canadian Architect’s 2025 RAIC Gold Medal issue, founding partner Bruce Kuwabara wrote about the trio’s decades-long partnership, while partner Paulo Rocha shared lessons from McKenna and Blumberg’s mentorship. The issue also featured reflections from Phyllis Lambert, Brigitte Shim, Deborah Berke, Sarah Polley, Omar Gandhi, Ron McCoy, Meryl Streep, Ken Greenberg, Meg Graham, and Betsy Williamson. 

“Together, Marianne McKenna and Shirley Blumberg represent the pinnacle of architectural practice in Canada. Their unwavering dedication to innovative design, community engagement, and social equity not only enriches the profession but also serves as a source of inspiration for countless architects and designers,” wrote Gandhi.  

Embarking on Vancouver’s largest cultural project in the past 30 years 

In September, the team of Formline + KPMB was selected to design the future home of the Vancouver Art Gallery, which will establish a new cultural landmark for both the city and the province. 

The partnership was initiated by KPMB and Formline after the two firms recognized their shared ethos and complementary strengths. Following a rigorous review and interview process, the team was chosen from a shortlist of 14 leading architecture firms.  

“KPMB brings a proven track record for creating elegant, world-class museums that centre art and community, while B.C.-based Formline leads with an Indigenous design vision that is both contemporary and deeply rooted in tradition,” said Jon Stovell, chair of the Gallery Association Board, at the time of the announcement.   

A conceptual design for the gallery will be revealed in 2026.  

Renewing architectural landmarks for the future  

The ongoing transformation of the 1960s-built Centennial Planetarium into a new home for Contemporary Calgary was recognized with an Award of Merit from Canadian Architect’s annual awards program. With GGA-Architecture, our design maintains the building’s idiosyncratic architectural character, while addressing new needs and longstanding accessibility issues.  

“Transforming Canada’s significant Brutalist icons to serve society with openness and generosity is one of the many architectural challenges of our time,” said juror Alison Brooks. “While honouring the original gallery’s sculptural gravitas, this project holds the promise of Brutalism as artful civic landscape.” 

The seven-storey Allied Music Centre was featured in Architectural Record’s August edition. The building, adjoining Toronto’s iconic Massey Hall, houses new performance spaces, educational programming, and infrastructure to support the historic venue. 

“Fitting any buildings into an alleyway is a remarkable feat, and it’s doubly bold to position a transformative institution for Toronto’s booming entertainment industry within an interstitial space,” wrote Matthew Allen in Architectural Record.  

Growing KPMB’s leadership team 

In September, Claudia Cozzitorto was appointed KPMB’s director of digital practice. In her role, she leads the firm’s use of digital tools and technologies. Cozzitorto is a nationally recognized leader in BIM and digital transformation in architecture. 

In April, Brian Lee joined KPMB as manager of visualization, following 15 years at Norm Li. Lee has elevated KPMB’s in-house visualization capabilities and contributed to a wide range of projects and design competitions. 

2025 marked the first full year for Laura Alexim, director of people and culture, and Chris McQuillan, principal, who joined KPMB at the end of 2024. Throughout 2025, Alexim has led a variety of transformative operational and cultural initiatives, while McQuillan has expanded the firm’s reach in the healthcare sector. Among other efforts, he recently led a research project exploring the feasibility of mass timber construction for hospitals. 

A banner year for the Landscape of Landmark Quality Project 

As the new landscapes at the University of Toronto’s downtown St. George Campus settled in following their completion in 2024, the project that bore them — the Landscape of Landmark Quality, led by KPMB with landscape design by MVVA — was widely recognized for its impacts on the campus’s pedestrian experience and its carbon footprint. 

Along with a feature in Canadian Architect, the project received an Award of Merit from the Toronto Urban Design Awards (TUDA), and was named the winner of both the “Landscape” category of the 2025 METROPOLIS Planet Positive Awards and the “Education – Residential & Recreation” category of The Architect’s Newspaper’s annual Best of Design Awards. 

As the TUDA jury commented, “The project skillfully balances a wide range of practical considerations — including servicing, accessibility, and the integration of a sophisticated geothermal exchange system — while simultaneously enriching the sensory and experiential dimensions of the campus landscape.” 

KPMB Lab advances sustainable design research and action 

KPMB Lab, our in-house team dedicated to carbon reduction and sustainable design strategies, continued to refine our internal processes, implement new tools for analysis and workflow, and lead other initiatives supporting decision-making for climate-adaptive and low-carbon design.  

Engaging in industry-wide conversations and events, KPMB Lab contributed to the “Building with Natural Materials” exhibition with the Toronto BioBuild Collective and hosted the Carbon Leadership Forum (CLF) for a panel on decarbonizing specifications. 

The Lab team also published a primer for designing for thermal resilience and unveiled a research project that reduced the carbon content of concrete by more than 85 percent. 

The Mayor of Boston applauds the Duan Family Center for Computing & Data Sciences 

In May, Boston Mayor Michelle Wu and the city’s Environmental Department recognized the Duan Family Center for Computing & Data Sciences at the inaugural Boston Climate Leader Awards. The Emerald Skyline Award for decarbonization went to Boston University, along with special recognition for the University’s Duan Family Center — the city’s largest fossil fuel-free, carbon-neutral building.  

“We launched the Climate Leader Awards to shine a light on the people and organizations advancing real solutions,” said Oliver Sellers-Garcia, the City of Boston’s Environment Commissioner and Green New Deal Director. “Every honoree is proving that Boston’s climate future is not just possible — it’s already in progress, whether it’s a start-up with a promising new idea or a long-standing institution stewarding our environment.” 

The Duan Family Center was also awarded a 2025 Green GOOD DESIGN Award and FRAME’s Learning Space of the Year Award. 

Breaking ground on new projects across North America 

KPMB broke ground on several notable projects in Canada and the United States in 2025, including the reimagined atrium and public spaces at the Suncor Energy Centre in Calgary, Alberta and the renovation of The Harvard Crimson’s offices in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The latter is a modernization of the historic university newspaper’s Neo-Georgian red-brick home, built in 1910 and last expanded in 1991, for the era of digital journalism.  

Other projects currently under construction, including the Agnes Reimagined at Queen’s University, the Werklund Centre Transformation in Calgary, and the CAMH Temerty Discovery Centre in Toronto, continued their march toward completion.  

Scotiabank North wins ARIDO Award  

The 14-storey Scotiabank North Flagship received a 2025 ARIDO (Association of Registered Interior Designers of Ontario) Award in the “Work” category. Ontario’s most prestigious annual interior design honour, the ARIDO Awards recognize excellence across a range of criteria, including design concept and floorplan quality, budget responsiveness, and the integration of EDI, wellness, and sustainability. 

KPMB’s Steven Casey, partner-in-charge of Scotiabank North, was also named a Fellow of the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada (RAIC) this year. Fellows are recognized for their contributions to research, scholarship, public service, and the architectural profession. 

Giving back 

Throughout 2025, KPMB remained as engaged with the community as ever. Staff participated in CANStruction in support of the Daily Bread Foodbank and competed in the Heatwave for SickKids fundraising volleyball tournament. Our basketball team — the aptly named KPMBallers — raised more than $3,000 in support of Sinai Health.  

To close the year, KPMB’s annual Gingerbread Build for the City event gathered AEC firms from across Toronto for a friendly competition in support of The Red Door Family Shelter. 

KPMB also continued its partnership with Indspire, a charitable organization that provides Indigenous students across Canada with scholarships, mentorship, and support programs. For the past three years, KPMB has financially supported 30 students from 14 bands as they study architecture, architectural technology, landscape architecture, and urban and regional planning.  

“Our ongoing partnership with Indspire reflects our belief that the inclusion of Indigenous voices and perspectives in our industry is essential to shaping a more thoughtful, equitable, and sustainable built environment,” said Shirley Blumberg, founding partner, in June.