Donald Chong, Betsy Williamson, and Shane Williamson
Recorded: March 20, 2014
Founded in 2011 and led by Donald Chong, Betsy Williamson, and Shane Williamson, Toronto-based Williamson Chong Architects prioritizes “context, materials research, economies of construction, building performance, and client-based collaboration” in their work, which ranges in scale from furniture to master planning.
In 2014, The Architectural League named Williamson Chong Architects an Emerging Voice. The annual Emerging Voices award spotlights individuals and firms based in the United States, Canada, or Mexico with distinct design voices and the potential to influence the disciplines of architecture, landscape design, and urbanism. Each year, winners are invited to participate in the Emerging Voices lecture series.
In their presentation, Chong, Williamson, and Williamson discuss the significance of their Canadian context, advanced digital tools, material investigations, and variety of scale to their practice. The firm’s use of “leftover” spaces to intensify the fabric in urban contexts and landscape integration in rural contexts, as well as an interest in strengthening community through design, are demonstrated in such residential projects as Galley House, Blantyre House, House in Frogs Hollow, and Grange Double Dwelling, as well as the master plan for the 441-acre Abbey Gardens site.
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