DRC Members

Founding Partner, O.C., OAA, FRAIC, AIA, RIBA
Bruce Kuwabara is a founding partner of KPMB Architects and the Chair of the Canadian Centre for Architecture in Montreal. In 2006, he was awarded the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada Gold Medal and in 2012 he was invested as an Officer of the Order of Canada for shaping ‘our built landscape in lasting ways.’ Bruce was lead design partner on 13 of KPMB’s 16 Governor General’s Award-winning projects.
His portfolio encompasses cultural, civic, educational, hospitality, and healthcare projects. Notable cultural work includes Canada’s National Ballet School, the Canadian Museum of Nature in Ottawa, and the Remai Modern art gallery in Saskatoon. Educational projects include the Julis Romo Rabinowitz Building and Louis A. Simpson International Building at Princeton University, and the Destination Project at the University of Lethbridge, Alberta.

Professor Mabury holds a PhD in Agricultural and Environmental Chemistry from the University of California, Davis. He first joined the University of Toronto in 1995 as the first faculty member in environmental chemistry and later helped lead the creation of undergraduate and graduate programs in this sub-discipline. Professor Mabury served as Chair of the Department of Chemistry from 2003 until 2009.
Professor Mabury was appointed as VP-University Operations January 1, 2012, and was reappointed in December 2016. In January 2019, he was appointed to the newly created position of Vice-President, Operations and Real Estate Partnerships, and his term was extended to June, 2023. Portfolios reporting to him include Information Technology Services, Facilities and Services, Ancillary Services, Real Estate, Office of Planning and Budget, and University Planning, Design & Construction encompassing University Planning, Project Development, Project Management, and Design & Engineering.

Christine is the Assistant Vice-President of University Planning, University Operations and Real Estate Partnerships at the University of Toronto. She is responsible for university master planning, major capital project planning, securing entitlements and enabling redevelopment of the University’s lands to address institutional space shortage and deliver program needs in support of the academic mission.
With 25 years of international and Toronto-based experience in large scale master planning, planning and development, and urban design, Christine has overseen complex projects for public and private sector development clients. Prior to joining the University of Toronto, Christine managed development and planning initiatives for Toronto Community Housing on the Regent Park Revitalization, and developed projects focusing on neighbourhood regeneration and community-building, including Alexandra Park Revitalization in Toronto. She has also worked on large-scale development initiatives elsewhere in North America as well as in the UK and Asia delivering master plans for new housing and open spaces in mixed-use and mixed-income communities. By approaching each city-building assignment as a unique opportunity Christine seeks creative solutions that will result in the formation of great urban neighbourhoods and public spaces.
Christine holds a Masters degree in Planning and Development from Harvard Graduate School of Design, a Bachelor of Architecture and Bachelor of Science in Architecture degrees from McGill University, and a real estate development and finance certificate from New York University Schack Institute of Real Estate.

Carl Blanchaer, OAA, FRAIC, joined WZMH Architects in 1981 after working for the IKOY Partnership in Winnipeg, Manitoba. He became a Principal of WZMH in 1988, retiring from the practice in 2019. Carl graduated from the University of Manitoba with a Bachelor of Environmental Studies in 1971 and a Masters of Architecture in 1978.

WZMH Architects, in practice for sixty years is recognized for the design of complex, large scale projects in Europe, the Middle East, China, the USA and Canada. Carl has served as Design Principal on many of the firm’s most significant projects in the last two decades. He was a member of the City of Toronto Design Review Panel from 2012-2021 and has been a member of the University of Toronto Design Review Committee since 2014.

Renée Daoust, founding partner of Daoust Lestage Lizotte Stecker, is widely recognized for her commitment to high quality, well-considered architectural projects from the scale of the city to the object. Over more than 30 years of practice, Renée has built a reputation for mobilizing and inspiring leadership and has an unmatched ability to communicate ideas and engage stakeholders.

Trained as an architect and urban designer, Renée Daoust is interested in transformative signature projects encompassing architecture, urban design, landscape architecture, public art and innovative sustainability to formalize high quality significant city building statements.

In 2016, Renée Daoust and Réal Lestage were awarded the Prix Ernest-Cormier, the highest distinction awarded by the Government of Québec in the fields of Architecture and Design.

Pat Hanson (Principal BFA MArch OAA AAA FRAIC) is the founding partner of gh3*. Under her leadership, the firm has established a reputation for design integrity across a range of building typologies and through all scales of practice. She is the architect of institutional, infrastructural and residential projects that create meaningful connections between architecture and landscape within the urban realm. Exemplary projects include the internationally-recognized June Callwood Park in Toronto, the Trinity College Quadrangle at the University of Toronto, and the Governor General’s Medal-awarded projects Borden Park Pavilion, the Borden Park Natural Swimming Pool.
Pat is an expert communicator of compelling design visions that are both environmentally and socially sustainable. She is a strong and insightful advocate for the potential for built form to rise above the merely functional, to integrate the pragmatic with the poetic, and to achieve an aesthetic impact that brings pleasure to everyday uses. For over 30 years, she has led clients and interdisciplinary design teams through complex programs, negotiating extensive public consultation processes to achieve internationally-recognized, award-winning projects, whether at the scale of infrastructure or the sheltering of a community programme.
She currently serves on the Toronto Waterfront Design Review Panel, and is a past senior advisor for Building Equality in Architecture Toronto (BEAT), which supports diversity and women in the design fields. She has lectured on the work of gh3* in Europe and North America, and has taught at University of Toronto and University of Waterloo. In 2016, Pat was recognized by the international arcVision Prize for Women and Architecture.

Anna Kennedy is Chief Operating Officer of KingSett Capital, a Canadian private equity real estate investment business which creates and co-invests in real estate investment solutions to deliver sustainable premium risk weighted returns.

Founded in 2002, KingSett has raised $12.5 billion of equity for its Growth, Income, Urban, Mortgage and Affordable Housing strategies. KingSett has $16 billion of assets under management in a portfolio of $19 billion.

Anna was formerly Executive Vice-President and Chief Financial Officer at Oxford Properties Group and is also active in the non-for-profit sector and served as the Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of the Canadian Diabetes Association. Anna is on the Board of Governors of the University of Toronto, is on the Boards of the C.D. Howe Institute and REALPAC.

Anna obtained her Chartered Accountant designation working at PricewaterhouseCoopers. She holds an Honours Bachelor of Commerce from Queen’s University.

A Fellow of the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada and a member of the American Institute of Architects, Mr. Schmitt and his firm have won over 400 design awards including seven Governor General’s Awards.
Don’s recent notable projects include the transformation of the National Arts Centre, the Senate of Canada Building, the Gilgan Centre for Research and Learning at Sick Children’s Hospital and Geffen Hall at Lincoln Centre, New York City.
He is the Founding Chair of the Public Art Commission for the City of Toronto for which he was awarded the Civic Medal. He has been a member of several Design Review Panels including the National Capital Commission and Waterfront Toronto.
Donald Schmitt is a Member of the Order of Canada.

Richard Sommer is a Professor of Architecture and Urbanism, and Director of the Global Cities Institute at the University of Toronto. He was Dean of UofT’s Daniels Faculty from 2009-20, and during that time incorporated five new programs, led the design and construction of 1 Spadina Crescent, and ultimately more than quadrupled the size of the school. Before Toronto, Sommer was active in design practice, was a Professor and Director of Urban Design at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design, and held several visiting professorships and fellowships in Europe and the United States. In 2020 he received an Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture Distinguished Professor Award. Sommer’s projects and writings on architecture, urbanism and monument-making have been published in Cabinet Magazine, Perspecta, and JAE, and the books Urban Design (U. Minnesota Press), and Commemoration and the American City: Monuments, Memorialization and Meaning (UVA Press), among others.

Mr. Wright is an Associate Professor in the Daniels Faculty. He has also been, The Interim Dean of the Daniels Faculty (1 yr.), the Dean of Forestry (2yrs), the Director of the Landscape Program (8 yrs.), Daniels Faculty Associate Dean of Research (4 yrs.) Daniels Faculty, and Daniels Associate Dean (4 yrs.)
Mr. Wright is a founding member and past Director of the Centre for Landscape Research (8 yrs.) and a Past Director of the Knowledge Media Design Institute (4 yrs.) His work focuses on Landscape and Urban design, bringing the University’s expertise together with Community, Industry, and government. He is a full member of the OALA and a Fellow of the CSLA.
Robert Wright has a BSc from the University of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, in Open Space Planning, with a major in Ecology and an MLA from the University of Guelph, Ontario, Canada

As Chief Administrative Officer at the University of Toronto Scarborough (UTSC), Andrew has spearheaded the development of the Campus’ Strategic and Master Plans. He has led teams in a wide range of business disciplines including operations, government relations, capital development and strategy. He has also fostered partnerships across the public and private sectors that have built innovative new opportunities including the creation of the Toronto Pan Am Sports Centre.

Before joining UTSC, Andrew was a key leader in the merger to create the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH).

Andrew is also an active board member for Ontario Shores and the Toronto Pan AM Sports Centre. He serves as a strategic advisor for the Toronto Zoo.

Andrew received his undergraduate in philosophy and psychology from York University and holds a Masters of Business Administration from the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto.

Deborah Brown is Chief Administrative Officer at the University of Toronto Mississauga. Her team is responsible for major capital projects that are aligned with a new Campus Master Plan that was approved in 2022.

Previous to UTM, Deborah was the Vice-President at Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU), where her team developed the Campus Master Plan 2020-2030. She oversaw significant capital expansion including two new buildings –Daphne Cockwell Health Sciences Complex and Centre for Urban Innovation.

Before her role at TMU, Deborah oversaw significant capital expansion at Mohawk College as Vice President, Corporate Services. Her team won several awards for the innovative, net-zero Joyce Centre For Partnership and Innovation, the first building in Canada to receive Zero Carbon Building (ZCB) Standard certification in both the Design and Performance categories from the Canada Green Building Council (CaGBC).

Prior to her career in the post-secondary sector, Deborah held senior leadership positions within the Ontario government, most recently as the acting chief administrative officer and assistant deputy minister at Treasury Board Secretariat.

Costas Catsaros is the Director of Project Development, a department within the University Planning, Design and Construction group that specializes in costing, scheduling and logistical analysis of capital projects on all three campuses. Costas also oversees all consultant selection processes for major capital projects and is a primary liaison with the AEC community and their governing associations.

Costas holds a Master’s degree in Architecture from the University of Waterloo, is a registered architect with the Ontario Association of Architects and maintains affiliations with the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada and the Canada Green Building Council. Prior to his current role at the University, Costas spent 14 years in the private sector an architect within a large Toronto architectural practice where he specialized in community, secondary and post-secondary design and construction.

Professor Juan Du is Dean of the John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape, and Design. She joined the Faculty in July 2021 following extensive experience in teaching, research and academic leadership. She practiced in the U.S., Europe and China, establishing her Hong Kong-based office IDU in 2006. Du is a scholar on Asia’s urbanization; her work has been featured in prominent publications (New York Times, The Wall Street Journal) as has her writing (The Architectural Review, Volume and more). Her award-winning book, The Shenzhen Experiment: The Story of China’s Instant City, was published by Harvard University Press in 2020. Du has taught at the University of Hong Kong and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She holds a Doctorate of Science in Architecture from ETH Zürich, Master of Architecture from Princeton University and Bachelor of Design in Architecture from the University of Florida. She is the recipient of a U.S. Fulbright Fellowship for research on Chinese urbanization and architecture.

Brian Szuberwood is the Interim Executive Director, Capital Projects.

He leads the Project Management department of 41 staff positions including 24 Project Managers, 5 Construction Technicians, and Administrative and Support Staff and the Design & Engineering Department with a complement of 16 personnel consisting of Architects, Engineers and technicians. The Capital Projects group is currently involved with 143 active projects with a combined value of over $1.34B.

In his almost 21 years at the University he has been a Senior Project Manager, a Development Manager, and an Associate Director before taking on his current role.

Brian holds a Bachelor of Architecture degree from Carleton University, is a retired member of the Ontario Association of Architects and is a member of the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada.