Toronto, ON, CA
Baird Sampson Neuert architects is a Toronto based firm that is an acknowledged leader in architectural and urban design in Canada. BSN has been in practice for more than four decades during which time it has assembled a team with a great depth of creative talent and experience. Its many achievements in architecture, urbanism and sustainability have established a reputation for creative research, as well as design excellence. Founded by George Baird in 1972, the firm rapidly gained a national profile for its innovative approaches to urban design. The practice expanded when Barry Sampson became a partner in 1982 and again in 1998 when Jon Neuert, also a registered architect, became a principal. All three principals were elected Fellows of the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada as a result of their history of achievement and George Baird received the RAIC Gold Medal, its highest award.
BSN’s portfolio is distinguished by a wide array of award winning designs and technical achievements. As well as architectural projects, the work includes ground breaking urban design and planning projects for a broad cross section of public and private sector clients. These projects include: educational facilities, research centers, museums, conservatories, auditoriums, waterfront centers, libraries, public parks, and private and public housing, as well as development master plans and urban design. Included among the many major awards the firm has received for its projects are three Governor General’s Awards, Canada’s most prestigious national recognition for design excellence and an American Institute of Architects Honour Award, the highest award in the U.S.. Many projects have involved an extensive consultation process and a close working relationship with community representatives and project committees to achieve broad community development goals. The broad range of project type and wide array of technical challenges represented in the firm’s portfolio demonstrates BSN’s exceptional research capacity, creativity and consistent commitment to design excellence.
Not only a leader in Toronto’s architectural community, BSN architects has extensive experience programming complex institutional buildings and site landscapes. These include: city halls, central libraries, academic facilities, and other major public buildings. As part of the Master Plan for the Cranbrook Education Community, most of the existing campus buildings were completely reprogrammed to accommodate new academic functions. The firm was commissioned by amalgamated Toronto District School Board undertake the consolidation of its entire administrative portfolio of 1.2 million square feet of space and 2,100 employees. More recently the firm has been retained by Cornell University to undertake academic and public access programming at Plantations, a botanical garden on the periphery of the main campus. For the University of Guelph, BSN has been leading the development of a facility programme for a 300,000 square foot multidisciplinary agricultural research centre focused on sustainable dairy farming.