RAIC Gold Medal 2012

RAIC GOLD MEDAL 2012PETER CARDEW

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RAIC Gold MedAl 2012 3

The NaTioNal Review of DesigN aND PRacTice/The JouRNal of RecoRD of aRchiTecTuRe caNaDa | Raic

June 2012, v.57 n.06

CoVeR The SaTurna ISland houSe by PeTer Cardew arChITeCTS on SaTurna ISland, bC. PhoTograPh by PeTer Cardew arChITeCTS.

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20 MeAsuRed dRAwInG The heIghTened ImPorTanCe of drawIng ThroughouT and

afTer The deSIgn ProCeSS IS deTaIled by Cardew aSSoCIaTe davId SCoTT.

23 PIVotAl desIGn SCoTT waTSon reCounTS hIS exPerIenCeS aS The ClIenT

who enabled PeTer Cardew To deSIgn one of The moST ImPorTanT buIldIngS To be ComPleTed In vanCouver over The PaST 30 yearS.

26 no oRdInARy BuIldInG greg bellerby reCallS how a new PerSPeCTIve on arChITeCT

PeTer Cardew waS gaIned Through The ProCeSS of CuraT-Ing an exhIbITIon of hIS work In 1996.

28 ColleCted wIsdoM ChrIS maCdonald reSPeCTfully noTeS ThaT deSPITe The

rIgorouS demandS of PraCTICe, PeTer Cardew haS alwayS found TIme To Share hIS vISIon and aCCumulaTed wISdom Through ProfeSSIonal menTorIng and aCademIC lIfe.

30 Role Model ruSSell aCTon deSCrIbeS The PaTIenT and InTermInably

long (buT ImmenSely worThwhIle) waIT aS a Tender young graduaTe, eager To work wITh The menTor of hIS ChoICe.

7 A ContInuuM of woRk InSIghTS InTo The moTIvaTIon and workIng ProCeSS of

ThIS year’S raIC gold medal wInner are revealed In a CandId ConverSaTIon wITh Ian ChodIkoff.

13 CRAft woRk elIzabeTh ShoTTon dISCuSSeS The TradITIonal yeT modernIST

arChITeCTure of PeTer Cardew ThaT IS buIlT uPon a dIverSe and ITeraTIve deSIgn ProCeSS.

17 An ARChIteCt’s ARChIteCt andrew grufTS aSSerTS ThaT PeTer Cardew haS ConTInual-

ly demonSTraTed ImagInaTIve wayS To InfuSe ClaSSIC modernISm wITh new and relevanT IdeaS over a Career SPannIng nearly fIve deCadeS.

Contents









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4 rAicgoldMEdAl2012

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Ian ChodIkoff [email protected]

AbovE Peter Cardew sketChes a 1:1 drawInG of the Cn PavILIon sPaCe-fraMe truss for exPo ‘86. Cardew’s dedICatIon to hIs Craft has resuLted In an InsPIred PortfoLIo of subLIMeLy detaILed arChIteCture of endurInG PresenCe.

to include an abundance of conspicuously cele-brated civic buildings. But it is not something he has consciously shied away from, as he has con-sistently pursued opportunities to design large-scale public buildings.

Cardew moved to Vancouver in the late 1960s and got a job with Rhone & Iredale Architects, where he had an opportunity to work with many of the finest emerging architects and some of the best projects of the 1970s. When he branched out on his own in 1980, he evolved as an architect during a transformative decade marked by Expo ’86—a significant turning point for the city which saw itself morph from a frontier town into an es-tablished city with a new generation of clients able to appreciate the sophistication of Cardew’s architecture.

In today’s world, the superficiality of slick im-agery produced by even the most mediocre of architects can influence clients everywhere and make them believe in a certain architectural rhetoric. Consequently, many architects have es-tablished their own brand of polemical show-manship with the goal of wooing influential cli-ents and landing tasty commissions. By contrast, Cardew isn’t dogmatic about his work. Through-out his entire career, he has steadfastly main-tained a rigorous approach to the details and rationalism that reveal the intelligence of his architecture. There is much to learn from the work of Peter Cardew, an architect who has established his own well-ordered principles of architecture based upon the foundations of practice, knowledge and determination.

The 2012 RAIC Gold Medal is being awarded to Peter Cardew, a Vancouver architect who has dedi-cated his career to realizing exceptional buildings for his clients through a careful approach to design that explores very seriously the architectural ideas of depth and circumstance. While Cardew’s work avoids rhetoric and pomposity, the world of archi-tecture today is permeated by a global design cul-ture that not only accepts, but encourages a super-ficial architecture fuelled by grandiose statements and flashy, high-resolution images accessed from the Internet. Cardew’s architecture serves as a veritable balm to this shallow condition where the “cool factor” caricatures buildings rather than al-lowing innovative spatial, material or contextual explorations. There is little room for whimsy in the work of Peter Cardew; he is an architect whose commissions prioritize program, site and struc-ture over a modish material palette and promo-tional renderings of show-off buildings that are little more than—in Cardew’s own words—“decorated sheds.”

Since the establishment of the firm in 1980, Cardew’s small, low-profile practice has com-pleted a modest number of consistently excellent buildings. He is living proof that it is still pos-sible to maintain an office that places a high pri-ority on architectural meaning and craft—prior-ities which require both thoughtfulness and an unhurried pace. His disciplined career path is marked by deeply personal experiences that have inspired the many talented individuals who have worked for him over the years. By his own admis-sion, Cardew is not a brazen self-promoter, and this is a major reason why his portfolio tends not

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RAIC_GoldMedalMag2012_out.pdf 1 2012-05-29 13:22:31

Congratulationsto Peter Cardewon being awarded the

RAIC Gold Medal



A CoNTINUUM oF WoRK2012 RAIC Gold MedAllIsT PeTeR CARdeW dIsCUsses The evolUTIoN oF hIs CAReeR ANd hIs dedICATed APPRoACh To ARChITeCTURe—bUT MosT IMPoRTANTly, The sIMPle desIRe To CoNTINUe MAKING Good bUIldINGs.

how did your educational and early experiences working as an architect in england and Germany develop your approach to architecture?

I went through the traditional five-year program in architecture at the Kingston School of Art (which became the Faculty of Art, Design & Architecture at Kingston University). The school wanted us to take a year off after third year, so I decided to work in Germany. I was one of the first students from that school who decided to

study abroad, and I got a job working for Max Becher who ran a very small firm in Stuttgart. Becher was more of an academic than a practi-tioner, but it was a terrific experience for me. There were four people in the office, and all of a sudden they received a commission for an exhib-ition pavilion. Although I didn’t speak a word of German, Becher asked me to supervise the pro-ject. Unlike today where everybody speaks Eng-lish, very few Germans were able to speak Eng-lish in those days. This forced me to draw so that I could effectively communicate with the con-tractors. In hindsight, this was a very important skill to learn. After finishing my studies, I made a

conscious decision to work for relatively un-known firms. I felt as though I had my own archi-tectural ideas but they weren’t fully developed so I wanted to work in firms that would allow me to design and, in essence, continue my education.

After working for a couple of firms, you worked for the architect and artist Roman halter in the UK. What made you finally decide to move to Canada?

Roman Halter had a small firm and he gave me a project to look after—a school for chil-dren with physical disabilities. I left for Can-

Above A section of the pin-up wAll documents A portion of the design process driving the development of A forthcoming building for the cAlgAry folk music festivAl.

peter cArdew Architects

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8 RAIC Gold MedAl 2012

leFT, ToP To BoTToM A recent photogrAphic portrAit of peter cArdew; the north-fAcing curtAin wAll of cArdew’s crown life Building completed in 1975 while he wAs still At rhone & iredAle.

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ada before the school was actually finished. Halter was very supportive of me and let me do everything as long as I didn’t mess any-thing up. One design element of the school which I was particularly proud of was the treatment of the entry. School buses would back up to a 2’-6” platform and let the kids out onto the platform where they could take a ramp down into the school—this was before there were loading platforms or specialized buses to facilitate the unloading of disabled children. For the sake of the kids’ dignity, I suggested that everybody should go down that ramp so that the able-bodied would have to walk up a few steps before entering the school with everyone else. I had a lot of arguments with that design but I eventually won out. After about a year, Halter offered me a part-nership which would mean a major commit-ment to the firm. I was 25 years old and I felt as though I hadn’t explored enough architec-turally. My excuse was that I wanted to travel for awhile; my ultimate destination was Aus-tralia, but I never made it there. My mother lived in New York at the time, and I went there first before moving on to Vancouver where I had a few friends, and I’ve never left.

After getting a job working at Rhone & Ire-dale, how did Bill Rhone and Rand Iredale influence your architecture?

Rhone & Iredale was a unique working environ-ment where they encouraged their project man-agers to run everything. That’s not to say they weren’t interested in the design, but they saw their role as mentors. The firm had weekly office-wide design panels. Almost every project was presented and the review sessions could be quite vicious. Rhone and Iredale were great admirers of Caudill Rowlett Scott (CRS), a firm based out of Houston, Texas. CRS was a similar architecture firm to Rhone & Iredale; Caudill established all kinds of systems and Rand Iredale was also a big fan of sys-tems. He brought in one of the first computer sys-tems in Vancouver. Rhone & Iredale was a terrific firm that had some very good people working for them—Richard Henriquez. Peter Busby, Terry Wil-liams and others.

This critical mass of people working for the firm at that time must have shored up your attitudes about design and rational struc-turalism with buildings like the Crown life


ToP A glimpse of the light industriAl context surrounding the odlum drive town-houses which cAn be seen At the left of the imAge. ABoVe, leFT To RIGHT the lignum sAwmill sited within the vAlley context of williAms lAke; A view of the interior courtyArd of the odlum drive townhouse complex.

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office tower. Can you discuss these big important commissions and maybe why you made a decision to not work on large projects such as these after you left Rhone & Iredale?

You give me too much credit about making such conscious decisions! When you get into this busi-ness, you often take what you can get. I’ve never been a great promoter of my work. As for the Crown Life building, Bill Rhone was in charge of that building and we basically got the commis-sion because of the Westcoast Transmission building that preceded it. There is no way that you can build these kinds of buildings today. The whole culture has changed. Firstly, there are no head-office buildings in Vancouver anymore, so you end up dealing with a junior vice-president instead of clients like Frank McMahon who owned the Westcoast Transmission Company. According to Rhone, McMahon looked at the presentation model for five minutes before say-ing, “OK, build it!”

How has your attitude about architecture changed over the course of your career?

I’ve never separated building types when I design buildings. You are always dealing with people issues. Take the Lignum Sawmill as an example. I got that commission through somebody that I knew. The owner of the company was John (Jake) Kerr and through our professional relationship, he later gave me the second phase to design when I had my own office. For the townhouses at False Creek, this was a project that I completed as a first-time developer. The City of Vancouver basically said, “If anybody wants land, come and apply for it.” Ron Pears (who later went on to es-tablish Aldrich Pears) and I went to the City for the land while we were still working together at Rhone & Iredale. We raised the money and enjoyed a terrific experience with the project, which changed my ideas about what architecture can accomplish. What did all of this teach me specifically? I look at life as a kind of continuum and treat every project the same way—an oppor-tunity to do good work.

on the subject of clients, can you talk about what happened during expo ’86—a pivotal and exciting moment in Vancou-ver’s history that brought a lot of urban development and ambition to the city?

Expo ’86 was a more adventurous time. When I was asked to design the CN Pavilion for Expo, the client didn’t know what the exhibit would look like so I suggested that we take our inspiration from the great European railway terminals. If you

build a great structure that can accommodate anything underneath, then you don’t have to worry about waiting for the exhibit designers to design the exhibition. Vancouver today is a much more timid city, and a less adventurous one. You wouldn’t think so when you look at the buildings today, but I believe this might just be a part of growing up from a frontier town into a more es-tablished business city.

do you still think of Vancouver as a fron-tier town today?

I don’t think so but sometimes I regret its trans-formation. Individuals like Frank McMahon were definitely part of that frontier-town attitude. Those clients are simply not around anymore. When Jake Kerr first took me up to the site at Williams Lake, we rode on a Greyhound bus. By


ToP InspIred by the structure of large european traIn statIons, the cn pavIlIon was desIgned for expo ’86 even before an exhIbItIon was determIned. ABoVe the oversIzed maIn entry and dark-grey exterIor claddIng provIdes a contemporary InterpretatIon of domestIcIty In thIs renovatIon of a tradItIonal suburban vancouver resIdence.

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the time I was hired to design the last phase of Lignum, we flew in his private jet. There is defin-itely less risk-taking today but that’s true within the entire profession of architecture. With less risk-taking, architects end up producing show-off buildings that are really just decorated sheds. I don’t think that people are asking fundamental questions about buildings anymore. I really ap-preciate buildings like the Seattle Public Library (designed by OMA), but I don’t think that it is a great advancement in architecture. On the other hand, James Stirling’s Faculty of History building at the University of Cambridge represents a real curiosity that examines how this building type

can actually evolve. I recently went to a lecture given by Winy Maas of MVRDV and another one delivered by Bjarke Ingels of BIG; I don’t think that there is any question that architects used to be more serious. It’s all very superficial today.

If there is one building that you are known for, it would be the Morris and Helen Bel-kin Art Gallery. Has this building met your own personal expectations of success?

We were lucky enough to get this job. I can’t say that I worked any harder on this project than any other because I work hard at all of my projects.

The success of this building was a matter of find-ing the essence of the architectural meaning be-hind the program. The initial program was based on precedent. When they saw that the three sep-arate spaces they wanted couldn’t be built with the budget that founding director Scott Watson had in mind, we had to develop an alternative strategy. This is where the idea for the pivoting walls came into being—you could have one big space with different spatial configurations within it. Another issue was the eventual removal of a large lobby. At a university gallery, there are never enough people arriving at once to merit a large lobby, so you can basically eliminate that space from the program. The success of the Bel-kin is built upon rethinking what a facility like this could be rather than just adopting the initial program and designing a building around it.

You have had many interesting people work for you over the years—people like Russell Acton, Marc Boutin and Beth Shot-ton, who have since moved on to establish their own successful careers. How do you see your role as a mentor?

I don’t know if I’ve ever seen myself as a mentor. I just try to hire good people with common goals. Maybe it’s just the fact that I’ve become older, but I still learn from younger people too. Our office is currently comprised of five people. Eight is the maximum that we’ll ever have. When my office grew to 10 people, I simply became a bad manager.

You have often had a strong opinion about representing your work in drawings and models.

I love to draw. The drawings that most people see are ones you do in the beginning. These are usu-ally schematic and fictional. The drawings that I enjoy doing come after the project has been built.

Can you describe the relationships that you’ve built up with contractors over the years—key individuals that have helped you realize the construction of your archi-tectural ideas?

I wish we could have that luxury. Often, we must deal with the guy who presents the lowest bid. We have certain sub-trades that we like to use and that I try to steer toward the general contractor. For example, we are currently using Structure-craft Builders to design the roof for the Calgary Folk Music Festival. Nobody else has the ability to design and manufacture a roof of this kind. I’ve personally toyed with the idea of starting up my own construction company similar to the way the structural engineering company of Fast+Epp established Structurecraft.


ABoVe, leFT To RIGHT A highly expressed roof structure chArActerizes the interior of the fulford residence; the exterior of the fulford residence, A remote moun-tAin retreAt. RIGHT sue ockwell, richArd peck, peter cArdew, mike kothke, Beth shotton And greg BellerBy pose in front of A wAll instAllAtion mAde from cArdew’s sketches At the Ordinary Build-ing exhiBition held At the chArles h. scott gAllery in 1996.

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Who influences your work?

I was recently in Switzerland to look at some of Peter Zumthor’s buildings—work that I admire for its craft and workmanship. I am typically more interested in the work of smaller practi-ces around the world and these are the projects that I like to visit and explore. In Canada, I greatly admire the work of John and Patricia Patkau. As a student it was James Stirling—if I ever had a hero it would be him. When the Canadian Centre for Architecture bought his archive, I arranged to go to Montreal to see the collection. I had a wonderful few days where they gave me complete access to the archives. It was fabulous. They gave me a pair of white gloves and said, “Go to it!” For somebody who has seen his drawings as a kid in school, this was a fantastic time.

You talk about your own life as a continu-um. do you have any unfinished business to deal with in your practice?

I have some ideas as to what it should be. I just want to keep on designing good buildings. CA

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CRAft WoRk

the WoRk of PeteR CARdeW CAn be desCRIbed In teRMs of dIGnIty, ResPeCt And CRAft. these tRAIts hAve yIelded A tRAdItIonAl yet ModeRnIst ARChIteCtuRe buIlt uPon A dIveRse And IteRAtIve desIGn PRoCess.

teXt ElizabEth Shotton

The extensive publication record in the inter-national press on the work of Peter Cardew, starting from the very earliest mention in Deutsche Bauzeitung in 1962 where architect Max Bacher graciously gives his youthful intern Car dew full credit for the design of an exhibition pavilion in Stuttgart, attests to a significant rec-ord of achievement in the past 50 years. A show-case of this body of work, Drawing Conclusions, sponsored by the University of Tennessee in

Knoxville in 2010, is but the most recent of many exhibi tions and lectures given in both public and academic venues, further evidence of the high regard held for the work. Yet, though this is a tes-tament to the scope of recognition Cardew has achieved over the span of his career to date, the true achievement lies in the approach to the work itself, and it is this that will have an immeasur-able and lasting impact on our profession. Span-ning across all scales, from the iconic Crown Life Plaza undertaken while a partner with Rhone & Iredale in the 1970s, to the small but precise pre-fabricated Lach Klan Industrial Arts Shop of the late 1980s, and the skillful adaptation of a post-war split-level bungalow in West Vancouver in 2007, the work is pursued with equal passion, integrity and precision regardless of budget or locale. David Scott, an associate with the firm, describes Cardew’s approach to architecture as founded on a “belief that all who use the build-ings should be treated with dignity and respect and that all buildings are crafted to the highest

level achievable regardless of the informality of its use or the banality of its material.” Dignity, respect and craft are fundamental in both the work and the process, offering our profession an inspirational paradigm for architectural practice.

Peter G. Rowe, in his treatise Civic Realism, describes a good civic work to be dependent not only on the manifestation of the familiar, the pluralistic and the critical, but is also “inextric-ably bound up with the continual advancement of the expressive means by which it is made and elaborated.” The strength of Cardew’s work on purely urban grounds—the resonance each pro-ject develops with the given environment through a profound understanding of the social and cul-tural aspirations of the communities it both

Above locatEd at thE baSE of thE vallEy, thE maSSivE ScalE of thE lignum officES and forEStry cEntrE (1977) in WilliamS lakE iS rElativE to itS induStrial and hEavi-ly forEStEd contExt.

PEtEr cardEW architEctS


serves and neighbours—is undeniable. But just as apparent throughout the portfolio is an indelible trace of material and structural imperatives, which seem to inform the work in equal measure to his very evident social objectives. So to view this body of work in an isolated fashion from a theoretical construct regarding society or from an equally isolated position of the relevance of making to design is to fail to grasp the totality of the work. The two forums, that of social theory and

that of making, are here inexorably linked and interdependent—a truly civic body of work.

Cardew’s convictions regarding dignity are manifest in his earliest work after graduation while working for Roman Halter, on a rehabilitation school for disabled children in Kent in which the dignity of the children was considered of foremost importance. Cardew’s intention in the design was “that the ramp provided a heightened experience of privileged entry comparable

to that of formal steps rising to the entry to Victorian civic buildings,” thus neutralizing any perceived difference between the ablebodied and the less able. Similar in approach is his work on the original Lignum Offices in Williams Lake, where the desire to reinforce the understanding of common endeavour among all of its employees, whether administrative or mill worker, led to the attenuation of the small program across the site, enlarging the scope of the building’s influ

ToP The Timeless moderniTy of The lignum offices and foresTry cenTre is clearly evidenT, especially when The vehicles daTe The image as vinTage 1970s. ABoVe The careful elevaTion of The sTurdy house (1998) in wesT van couver. oPPoSITe ToP graceful and minimal deTailing of The cliffside house on saTurna island allows The ocean views To dominaTe. oPPoSITe BoTToM an eleganTly drawn secTion of The cliffside house.

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ence well beyond its small footprint and, more critically, signalling the co-dependent nature of the workers regardless of position. The architec-tural approach in these early projects resonates again in the much later Belkin Gallery, where there is an insistent equality to the treatment of what would normally be considered front and back of house—an abolishment of differential treatment without resorting to the unilateral sameness which inflicts most projects that reject

hierarchy—thereby creating a project with the capacity to draw the surrounding spaces, build-ings and communities into a cohesive dialogue with equal dignity.

The craft of making has been just as critical to the work, evident in the fine detailing of each project. But less recognized is the exploration and ambition in the design of structure and use of materials. The early Lignum project, under-taken with CY Loh as structural engineer, broke

new ground in the fabrication of curved plywood box beams, as recorded in Wood World. This trad-ition was continued on the recent Calgary Folk Festival Hall, designed in concert with Gerry Epp of Fast & Epp Structural Engineers, in which conventional joinery techniques were evolved in the three-dimensional roof trusses. This is architectural research at its best; the develop-ment of new ideas and technologies, which are tested through construction. The collaborative

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ABoVe, leFT To RIGHT The enTrance To The STurdy houSe In WeST VancouVer; The Lach KLan SchooL InduSTrIaL arTS Shop. BoTToM a draWIng reVeaLS one eLeVaTIon of The BeLKIn arT gaLLery.

design process that exists between Cardew and his colleagues in related disciplines accounts for the success of these endeavours and, though a rare phenomenon within our profession, offers an encouraging model of practice. This form of invention is also pursued at more intimate scales in the design of furniture—a long-term preoccu-pation for Cardew, which had on occasion sur-faced in the public realm (RE POSE Folding Chair), but has more recently been formalized in a collaboration with a Vancouver furniture maker, 18KARAT.

Equally significant is the range of influence Cardew’s approach to architecture has had, as it spans across the profession, academia and the larger public realm by virtue of the breadth of Cardew’s participation in the community. His long-term and enduring tenure as an educator and mentor of young architects across the Amer-

icas and Europe will continue to have a lasting impact on the profession of architecture on an international scale. His patience, articulate guid-ance and generosity have shaped many young architects, mentored through several decades, enriching the profession through the continua-tion of the ideals of dignity, respect and craft in new practices. In tandem with the generous amount of time and effort Cardew has given to the education, he has also contributed invaluable time and insight to the wider Vancouver com-munity, in particular through his many years of service as the Chair of the Urban Design Panel, a role for which he is well remembered and highly regarded.

There are few architects capable of sustaining a career the length of Cardew’s with as much integ-rity to principles, attention to clients, and care in every detail. Even rarer then to find one gifted

enough to span the range between furniture de-sign, architecture and urban design with equal sophistication, or to transcend the boundaries between practice, education and public advocacy with ease. There is no doubt that Peter Cardew satisfies all the criteria for an RAIC Gold Medal, offering an alternative vision of leadership in our profession. CA

Elizabeth Shotton is a lecturer at the School of Archi-tecture, Landscape & Civil Engineering, University College Dublin.

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An ARChIteCt’s ARChIteCt

PeteR CARdew ContInues to PRoduCe buIldInGs of In teGRIty And InnovAtIon, esChewInG the CoMMeRCIAl IMPulse so PRevAlent In the vAnCouveR Context In whICh he woRks.

text Andrew Gruft

Peter Cardew may be a multiple award-winner for many of his buildings, and known to all who are serious about architecture in Canada, but he has very little public profile in his hometown. In Van-couver, it is the business of architecture—real es-tate—that dominates. Even within the profession, the major topics of conversation seem to focus on the biggest and flashiest projects under construc-tion. With the exception of star designers, the media continues to identify projects by the devel-oper and never the architect, who is often not mentioned at all. This remains the working con-text of architecture in British Columbia.

In contrast, all conversations about projects of

architectural consequence in the West have always connected with Cardew, who has taken his place amongst the small group of committed practition-ers of architecture working on the West Coast. This is underscored by the recognition he has received in Canada and elsewhere: accolades, exhibitions, lectures, juries, and teaching in the US, Europe, Asia and even Latin America and Australia.

Despite his modest body of work containing a few large projects, Cardew is known for his con-sistency and rigour. Each project is carefully con-sidered no matter what its size or apparent im-portance—an interior design for a small medical clinic is given the same level of consideration as a public building. Cardew is always searching for what he calls the project’s “essence,” the key understanding of its nature that drives his archi-tectural concepts. Why still no book on his archi-tecture? He’s “working on it.” As usual, he is too busy concentrating on his projects.

Cardew arrived in Vancouver from Britain in 1966, gravitating to Rhone & Iredale, one of the more innovative firms operating in Canada at

that time. Similar to Thompson Berwick and Pratt (TBP) or Erickson Massey, this was an im-portant “nursery” practice that incubated talent-ed young architects. Bing Thom, Bruno Freschi, Brigitte Shim, and the Patkaus passed through Erickson’s office. Ron Thom, Barry Downs, Paul Merrick and too many others to mention went through TBP. However, it was at Rhone & Iredale where I met Cardew, along with Richard Henri-quez. Cardew and I still have fond memories of the regular late Friday afternoon design discus-sions where the entire office participated in heated arguments criticizing current projects in the office.

During his tenure at Rhone & Iredale, Cardew produced a number of fine projects such as the False Creek Row Houses (1980) and the Crown Life Building (1975). False Creek consisted of a

Above with four distinct elevAtions And built within A confined AcAdemic con-text, the morris And helen belkin Art GAllery At ubc remAins one of cArdew’s most siGnificAnt buildinGs to dAte.

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row of long, narrow housing units. This was a radical, unknown typology in Vancouver at the time, influenced by Cardew’s knowledge of the best of British Modernist public housing. When clients questioned the narrowness of the units he had designed, he suggested that they measure the smallest dimension of the biggest room in their homes, and that convinced them. Crown Life, arguably still the best high-rise office building in Vancouver, shows the influence of one of his heroes, James Stirling. It set a standard for com-mercial office buildings yet to be equalled, with only Erickson’s MacMillan Bloedel Building (1969) as its closest competitor.

As Rhone & Iredale were coming apart in 1980, Cardew started his own practice. I have always believed that if the breakup could have been avoided, he would have been the chief designer of one of the major architectural firms in Canada (like Gordon Bunshaft at SOM) and would have had the opportunity to design many large pro-jects, demonstrating his prodigious talent. But Cardew tells a different story. In fact, he had been thinking of going out on his own for a num-

ber of years, disillusioned with working in a large firm where he was becoming less able to control his project from start to finish, and unable to de-vote sufficient attention to the making of the building, not just its design.

Cardew works with a small, dedicated staff of about half a dozen, insisting that they work “collegially rather than hierarchically.” His mod-estly sized open office space is dominated by a 30-foot-long communal worktable set along its centre with workstations on each side. The divid-er is set low enough so everyone can see each other. One end serves as the “conference table.” He sits at one of the stations, not working alone in an isolated office, but together with his staff in open interaction. Cardew still maintains that he has never wanted to have a large office, but if he were to expand he would rather be more diverse—such as having his own construction company with engineering capabilities.

Cardew started his own practice with a hit—it was the Lignum Office Building (1977) for a lumber company in Williams Lake, British Col-umbia. A smooth, streamlined simple object, the building had to compete with a host of much larger elements in the landscape: the mill, saw-dust burners, piles of lumber—all of industrial scale. In that context, a little building would have looked ridiculous, but by carefully ad-justing the program for maximum effect, Cardew was able to produce a building that punches well above its weight.

The O’Sullivan-Donaldson House in Lions Bay (1983) was his first single-family residen-tial project and demonstrated the clarity and rigour that was to mark all of his residential work, continuing right through to his recently completed zinc-clad house in Vancouver’s Dun-bar neighbourhood. One cannot talk about Car-dew houses without focusing on the Sturdy

CloCKWISe FRoM ToP leFT The STurdy houSe STandS heroically in iTS privileged WeST coaST conTexT; The o’Sullivan-donaldSon houSe in lionS Bay (1983) WaS cardeW’S firST Single-family reSidenTial projecT; a model of The lionS Bay reSidence.

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House (1998), perched on the rocks of a quint-essential Pacific Coast site while eschewing any cheap West Coast romanticism. Nevertheless, the home fits perfectly with its stunning wilder-ness surroundings.

Cardew’s CN Pavilion for Expo ’86 stood out amongst the plethora of strident trivia competing for attention—that which constitutes the norm for exhibition pavilion design. The memorable building was clear, simple and held more than enough presence to be noticed. His project for the Expo Tower, an exciting design incorporating memories of previous exhibition markers, was unfortunately never built when the fair went well over budget.

Another key project that deserves note is the Stone Band School, a project that transforms ele-ments derived from traditional native architec-ture into an organizing structure for a contem-porary First Nations school. Winning a Progres-sive Architecture Award in 1991, the school ad-dresses the needs of the community while giving its members an architecture they can identify with and be proud of, but without the sentimen-

tality that marred so many projects built for First Nations at this time.

The Morris and Helen Belkin Art Gallery at UBC (1995) is one of Cardew’s finest buildings, achieved with the support of intelligent and knowledgeable clients—the museum director and donors—a key factor in bringing off such an am-bitious project. A powerful architectural concept rigorously carried through into supportive detail-ing produces one of the best small art galleries anywhere—a masterwork of Canadian architec-ture of the period.

In opposition to the norm, Cardew’s practice sets a challenging alternate example for young designers entering the profession at this key mo-ment of major change. An unreconstructed but

not hidebound Modernist, Cardew has continu-ously demonstrated imaginative ways to infuse classic Modernism with new ideas, keeping his work fresh and alive. Most architects are happy to have built a couple of outstanding projects through the course of their careers—Peter Cardew has more than half a dozen. The 2012 RAIC Gold Medal is well deserved. CA

Andrew Gruft is Professor Emeritus at the School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture at UBC, the curator of several exhibitions, and the author of a number of publications on contemporary Cana dian Architecture, including Substance over Spectacle, A Measure of Consensus, Idea into Form, and two books on the work of Patkau Architects.

ToP leFT The Crown Life BuiLding (1975) in downTown VanCouVer empLoyed a VarieTy of earLy susTainaBLe design ComponenTs suCh as a souTh-faCing ConCreTe Core for ThermaL massing, an earLy exampLe of a soLar Chimney, and a speCiaL soLar green-gLass CurTain waLL sysTem. ABoVe leFT a moCk-up of The norTh-faCing founTain, whiCh was designed To CreaTe a fLow of waTer TexTuraL enough To Be appreCiaTed in norTh-faCing LighT. ABoVe The Crown Life BuiLding is as eLeganT Today as when This phoTo was Taken shorTLy afTer iT firsT opened. noTe The empTy Land To The BuiLding’s righT whiCh has sinCe Been exTensiVeLy redeVeLoped as CoaL harBour.

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MeAsuRed dRAwInGA lonG-seRvInG AssoCIAte desCRIbes hIs MAtuRAtIon As An ARChIteCt fRoM the fIRst dAy he beGAn woRkInG In PeteR CARdew’s offICe.teXt DaviD Scott

I arrived at architecture school without much of an idea of what architecture was. As we each introduced ourselves and where we were from, the profes-sor paused after I spoke and said, “Kamloops, eh? You’re getting a good building.” That moment was my first introduction to Peter’s work. The next fall I was sitting at a small table in the corner of his office with glue and knife in hand, building a model of that very same building.

Peter’s Ordinary Buildings exhibition arrived in Halifax not long after that. Seeing the Stone Band School and Lignum Sawmill drawings—buildings lo-cated within hours of my hometown of Kamloops—gave me that feeling that Winnipeggers must have when they hear mention of their city in a Neil Young song. I was proud of the idea that strong architecture could be con-ceived for the dusty part of the country in which I’d grown up. I was amazed by the drawings themselves.

In Peter’s office, there is and has always been significance given to the act of drawing. Drawings are often constructed as a postscript to a project shortly after the buildings are completed. They are an elixir for the often demanding and relentless act of project execution. When the dust of con-struction has settled, the buildings are quietly reconsidered and distilled into a single drawing that is emphatic of an idea which is central to the architecture of the project. In many ways, the act of preparing these draw-ings is an important continuum which binds many of the architects who have worked in the office together. I have often quietly stood looking at the delicate detail which Russell Acton once penned onto paper for the Lach Klan School, and the lattice of the CN Pavilion roof structure drawn by Mike Kothke. At the completion of each project, I am struck by the significance of the act of producing a drawing and I am reminded that this is where an architect’s voice is the strongest, when it is constructed on the page.

Working with and watching Peter work has allowed me to understand the importance of effort in design. Solutions are arrived at through the under-standing of a problem and the working and reworking of a solution. The work is constructed from knowledge and comprehension—not from an epi-phanic conception or a quick gesture of the pen. Projects are designed by way of a thorough process of measured evaluation; drawn at scale from the point of an early idea. Details are refined through discussion with the trades people who will build them, and from the experience gained by visit-ing workshops and job sites to witness and appreciate the people, tools and materials which will ultimately give form to the architecture. The work is the product of Peter’s clear understanding of what architecture is as a disci-pline and his relentless determination to make buildings a critical part of the lives of those who inhabit them.

Over the last 30 years, Peter has quietly constructed a small body of work which will have a lasting and meaningful position in the history of Canadian architecture. There is a substantial quality to the work which endures the

oPPosIte toP carDew’S office haS a long traDition of careful Detailing teSteD through the proceSS of Drawing, aS thiS criSp illuStration for the cn pavilion’S Space frame illuStrateS. oPPosIte

bottoM two imageS of the cn pavilion roof, aS it waS built for expo ‘86. RIGht, toP to bottoM the axonometric Drawn for the aDDition to the lignum Sawmill officeS in williamS lake revealS an appreciation for elegant Structure anD geometry; a moDel of the aDDition for the lignum Sawmill project.

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changing seasons, improving with time and use. The projects are a testa-ment to Peter’s belief that all who use the buildings should be treated with dignity and respect, and that all buildings are crafted to the highest level achievable regardless of the informality of its use or the banality of its material. Each building bears Peter’s unconscious understanding of the role of tradition and innovation; something which allows the work to be per-petually relevant and continuously significant to the people who experience them every day. CA

David Scott first worked for Peter Cardew Architects as a student in 1998 and returned after graduation to work in the office from 2000-12. He has taught design at the University of British Columbia and the University of Calgary, and project execution at the British Columbia Institute of Technology.

CloCKWISe FRoM ToP The sobrieTy of concreTe block is an effecTive base for The sTone band school; The sTreeT façade of The arT Gallery, library and reGional GovernmenT faciliTies in kam-loops; a deTail model clearly reveals The sTrucTure and form of The same mixed-use projecT in kamloops.

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PIvotAl desIGn

A ClIent ReCounts hIs ex PeRIenCes develoPInG whAt ReMAIns A key vAnCouveR CultuRAl InstItutIon.text Scott WatSon

It is a pleasure to recall working with Peter Cardew on the Morris and Helen Belkin Art Gallery at the University of British Columbia, which opened in June of 1995. We chose Peter for two reasons. Firstly, we liked his commitment to his Modernist ideas. In the early ’90s, Postmodernism’s sway had not quite yet expired. Peter exemplified the ethical, philosophical and politi cal understanding of architecture that we call Modernism. Secondly, alone among the shortlisted candidates, Peter was prepared to talk about specific new gallery spaces he had visited and thought about.

The design process took over two years. The building design went through much iteration as Peter thought through the responses of the committee. He consistently managed to find eloquent and sensitive solutions to design requests that were sometimes not fully articulated. Peter was particularly adept at handling the bureaucratic process at UBC. The University was an especially difficult client in those days—it had decided on a kind of Brutalist Gothic in pinkish brick as its

standard look for the Main Mall. Besides our own committee, Peter had to meet with another committee that rarely communicated with ours. It was this committee which had the power to give or withhold the final approval of the design and, as I recall, there was resistance. Among the many issues that arose at the final design stage was the roof (Why couldn’t it be flat? Wouldn’t that be cheaper?). I accompanied Peter once to the other committee where he was asked, as a challenge to the design’s supposed lack of a clear “façade,” to name a building without a façade as a precedent. Without hesitation he replied, “The Coliseum.” To the suggestion that some trees “hugging” the building might mitigate the severity of its elevations, he replied dryly, “Hugging?” Peter prevailed with unfailing charm, patience and levelheadedness. He also had the support of the donor—Helen Belkin—for his design. That helped a great deal.

In the end, I can say that the building is a pleasure for those who work in it, exhibit in it, and visit it. Peter’s white glazed brick triumphed over the threat of pink brick because it tied the building to the nearby Lasserre and Buchanan Buildings, making a statement about the co herence of the Norman McKenzie Centre for Fine Arts.

Previously, the gallery had been housed in the basement of a (now demolished) wing of the Uni

versity’s Main Library (now the Barber Learn ing Centre) where our offices were adjacent to the exhibition space. A window next to the entrance hall meant that we could monitor the gallery without a guard while we worked in our offices. We were always connected to the exhibition space and our visitors. Sometimes, we even conversed with them. Importantly, it was a way of watching our visitors interact with the exhi bi tions. Peter’s solution to this challenge was the overall openness of the interior of the Belkin Gallery, where the offices were located on an open mezzanine overlooking the gallery entrances.

The idea behind the main gallery was to make it not at all precious so that holes cut through walls or even in the cement floor could be repaired easily. Pivoting walls were basically configured in four ways—at least that was Peter’s instruction to us. He did not envision us using the pivoting walls diagonally. But after a while we did, and found that the space was even more flexible than he had initially planned. After 17 years and over 70 exhibitions, I can say that the pivot

ABove at the MorriS and helen Belkin art Gallery on the UBc caMpUS, a MeticU-loUSly deSiGned WindoW appearS to reach oUt toWard the north Shore MoUntainS Beyond.

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ing walls function very well. Invariably, shows on tour look their best inside the Belkin. The gallery is a pliable and hardy instrument that can be adapted to many circumstances. It is a very con-vincing argument for the white cube. Important-ly, the building is open to discovering new ways of using it.

Rather astonishingly, the Belkin Art Gallery

CloCKWISe FRoM ToP leFT The inTricaTely hung canopy of The Belkin gallery; The inTer-ior of The gallery space; exposed painTed sTeel, grey Brick and concreTe comprise a soBer maTerial paleTTe for The gallery Building; kelly Wood’s phoTography hangs on The ingenious pivoTing Walls of The gallery.

was the only freestanding purpose-built art gallery in the Lower Mainland when it was con-structed. It still is. CA

Scott Watson is the Director/Curator of the Morris and Helen Belkin Art Gallery and Head of the Department of Art History, Visual Art and Theory at the University of British Columbia.

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http://www.mapei.com


No oRdINARy BuIldING

A VANCouVeR CuRAtoR speAks of the extRAoRdIN-ARy leVel of RefINeMeNt ANd INteGRIty fouNd IN the woRk of peteR CARdew.

text GreG BellerBy

In 1996, I had the opportunity to co-curate with Elizabeth Shotton an exhibition of the work of Peter Cardew at the Charles H. Scott Gallery at the Emily Carr University of Art and Design. The exhibition was titled Ordinary Buildings, a reflec-tion of Cardew’s belief that the essential build-ings are the common buildings: schools, office buildings, houses and stores. The exhi bi tion featured eight projects from a 20-year period, chosen to demonstrate the various building types Cardew had produced. These included the indus-trial (Lignum Offices and Forestry Centre, 1977/96), the educational (Stone Band School, 1992), the cultural (Morris and Helen Belkin Art Gallery, 1995), and the residential (False Creek Housing, 1980 and Odlum Live-Work Studios,

1996). All of them award-winning projects.Cardew had definite ideas about how his work

should be represented, the design of the exhi-bition, and the publication that accompanied it. For Cardew, the exhibition was not simply an exercise in self-promotion, but rather an oppor-tunity to provide an analysis of the projects and

the design process, and to examine the concep-tual foundation of each project. The exhi bi tion also addressed to a degree the problematic as-pects of the architectural exhibition itself. To that end, the decision was made to not include photo-graphs of the buildings, but instead rely on draw-ings and models alone.

ABoVe The TradiTion of crafT exTends To The losT arT of model-makinG, evidenced By This elevaTion-sTudy model for a series of rowhouses desiGned in 1980. Below a finely crafT-ed secTional model of The morris and helen Belkin arT Gallery aT uBc.

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CloCKWISe FRoM BeloW Cardew’s hand-drawn worm’s-eye axonometriC for the stone Band sChool has BeCome nearly as iConiC as the Building itself; the Com-pleted false Creek row houses enjoy a waterfront view; the interior of the kikwili inside the stone Band sChool; a seCtion through the sChool; a draw-ing used to explain the folding/unfold-ing planes of the Belkin art gallery.

The main feature of the exhibition was a large conceptual drawing and a model of each building. The models often revealed only a portion of the project, acting as an aid to further understand the concept. Cardew refers to these as “investigations, made after the buildings are completed, of ideas critical to the formation of the building. They represent an analytical expression of what remains a largely intuitive design process, providing a clearer and more critical understanding of the development of architectural ideas.”

I think the exhibition accomplished two things: it represented Cardew’s work and the thoughtfulness and intelligence that go into the development of his projects; and it also challenged us as viewers to really look and comprehend how architecture is made. It allowed for a discourse not only on Cardew’s work, but on contemporary architecture in general. The exhibition opened in Vancouver and toured across Canada and to several cities in the United States, attest

ing to the respect Cardew has among his colleagues in Canada and elsewhere.

Since establishing his own practice in 1980, Cardew has produced a truly significant number of outstanding projects—most of which have won awards. His practice is typified by a refinement in his buildings and a design integrity that has been uncompromising. His work emerges from a thoughtful analysis of each project, its program, site and client’s needs, resulting in buildings that are often cited for their clarity, simplicity, elegance and quality. A major achievement has been the consistent quality of his work throughout his career, a result of his commitment to the higher goals of architecture, ones that can have a positive influence on the urban environment and individual lives. CA

Greg Bellerby is the Director/Curator of the Charles H. Scott Gallery at the Emily Carr University of Art and Design.

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ColleCted WIsdoMIn the CouRse of hIs CAReeR, PeteR CARdeW hAs ConfRonted MAny ARChIteCtuRAl ChAllenGes AlonG the WAy—the lessons of WhICh he hAs shARed WIth hIs stAff And students.

teXt Chris MaCdonald

A survey of Peter Cardew’s oeuvre to date portrays work of intense consideration. This is the work of a designer of deliberate measure, meticulous in both its consideration and—perhaps more extraordinary—in its execution.

The work represents the accumulated successes over a professional lifetime and provides vivid testimony to the clarity of purpose and con sis ten cy of resolution Cardew has summoned up throughout his career. Collectively, the work might further serve as cipher for his commitment to the full spectrum of ambition he inherits from the modern project in architecture. Inclusive and broad in its suggestion, the varied programs and scales of projects undertaken by Cardew’s practice can be construed as a nearcomplete vision of a modern community—resolutely framed by the distinc tive geographies of his chosen West Coast setting.

Across the spectrum of Cardew’s buildings and projects, such a fundamental underpinning is clear. The industrial realm of Lignum is countered by the cultural presence of the Morris and Helen Belkin Art Gallery, while the Plaza of Nations shelter suggests a reticent framing of emerging public occasions. Innumerable detached houses strike a fine balance between a re

sponsible regard for geography and the vicissitudes of individual owners’ expectations—and a similar balance may be observed between the collective identity and private realm in urban housing such as the Waterfront Row Houses on Southwest False Creek, and in the modest but suggestive Odlum livework project. The sense of a consistent ethos in tectonic and detailed concerns is especially evident in furniture design and interiors—whether commercial or domestic in their programmatic emphasis. Finally, in the recent project for the reconfiguration of the Garden Wall House (see CA, December 2006), a preWWII Vancouver residence designed by Robert A.D. Berwick, the work suggests a strategy for a reconciliation of modern impulses with the habits of tradition—a case for design continuity in the midst of change and increasing urbanity.

The projects often carry with them a suggestion of prototype, registered in their somewhat schematic and openended planning strategies—notwith standing the evident commitment to a fine resolution of material artifact. This very gracious evocation of “flexibility” takes note of the very young and rather brittle context of the Vancouver region, and the need to anticipate the unexpected in spatial and urban practice.

Finally, if this corpus of work can be considered as being much more than that of the sum of the parts, it is not insignificant that Cardew has in the midst of his practice’s demands, consistently shared his vision and

ABoVe a detail of the spaCe-fraMe design used for the roof of the Cn pavilion that was proMinently loCated on the plaza of nations at expo ’86.

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CloCKWISe FRoM ToP leFT A drAwing of the odlum live-work StudioS explAinS the relAtionShip of the fAçAdeS to eAch other; the wAterfront row houSeS on SouthweSt fAlSe creek were originAlly believed to be to nArrow, but Are quite SpAciouS—eSpeciAlly in the context of vAncouver’S current reAl eStAte mArket; the odlum live-work StudioS were conStructed in A light induStriAl AreA, notwithStAnding the AnomAly of the edwArdiAn houSe next door; the fAlSe creek row houSeS.

accumulated wisdom through the agencies of professional mentoring and academic life. This speaks to a personal generosity of spirit that resonates deeply with his modern tradition and provides further testimony to his un-flagging and enthusiastic professionalism. CA

Chris Macdonald, FRAIC, is a Professor in the School of Architecture and Land-scape Architecture at the University of British Columbia.

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Role Model

An Architect who hAs estAblished A successful VAncouVer-bAsed prActice re cAlls his humble beginnings As A young intern working for his first mentor.

TeXT russell Acton

It was 1987 and I had just received a Bachelor of Architecture degree after absorbing five years of contemporary phenomenological architectural theory at Carleton University. My thesis sought to determine what the floor plan of Fred Flintstone’s ever-morphing house might look like. I was now set to enter the world of built architecture and Peter Cardew was the architect I wanted as a mentor.

At the time, Peter was operating as a sole practitioner. During my job interview, he matter-of-factly stated that he did all of the design in the office. My response was that I certainly hoped that to be the case as what would I know about designing buildings? Apparently satisfied, Peter offered me the job. I would begin work in a week, as soon as approval was received from a client to start a project.

Twenty-one weeks later, I was hired.

During that time, my life savings had run out and my world was topsy-turvy. I stayed up late into the night and slept in until noon. I wasn’t doing anything much more than checking in every week or so to see if Peter had received ap-proval to start. Every time the answer was the same—just one more week!

Finally, I couldn’t take it anymore and I was offered a position with a prominent local firm. I was given until the next day to consider the offer and went home to think it over, only to find that Peter had left a message on my answering machine. “Could I start work to-morrow?” was the message.

So began my three-and-a-half-year odyssey with Peter, during which time I gained at least double the experience, absorbing lessons learned directly from the master: architecture need not reference other arts to have meaning; design is an ongoing process that never ends; concepts rooted in past projects find life and evolve in new ones; materials, products and systems must be thoroughly understood to realize their full potential; detail concrete to appear heavy and steel to appear light; no more than two pieces of steel should be joined at a single point when welding; treat contractors and tradespeople with respect. The lessons went on and on.

Peter is a very generous teacher. He is demanding yet patient. When I wasn’t sure how to resolve a particular detail, he would sit by my side, pencil in hand, and guide me through a process to achieve the desired result. Peter always explained what he was trying to achieve and why. He finds potential in every aspect of design, and in every type of ordinary building.

I left Peter’s office to pursue a longstanding goal of starting a practice of my own. Within one year I had achieved that goal. I like to think that Peter’s influence can be seen in my own work today.

Over the years, I have passed Peter’s design principles on to others, always letting them know that what I am passing on to them is what Peter passed on to me, not so long ago.

Those 21 weeks were well worth the wait. CA

Russell Acton is a principal of Acton Ostry Architects in Vancouver.

ABoVe russel Acton mAde this model for the lAch klAn school industriAl Arts shop. the project wAs eVentuAlly built on kitkAtlA dolphin islAnd in brit-ish columbiA, And wAs one of the first buildings Acton designed while work-ing with peter cArdew from 1988-91.

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RAIC Gold Medal 2012