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About the Architects

Kearns Mancini Architects

Kearns Mancini Architects (KMA) is an international, award-winning design firm established in 1981 by Jonathan Kearns and Tony Mancini. KMA’s expertise in College and University projects, elementary and secondary schools, and specialty education projects—both creating new and adapting existing spaces—has built them a portfolio of inspirational, innovative work that pushes the boundaries of contemporary educational design and construction.

Jonathan M. Kearns

Jonathan has used his vision, strong leadership and motivational skills to drive large team projects in Canada, Great Britain, West Africa, Brazil, and Malaysia. Since 1993, he’s focused that vision on designing environments for mental healthcare with 16 years of continuous involvement in research and hands-on consulting, testing, and designing.  Jonathan is a uniquely qualified leader in this field of design. Jonathan has been Co-Principal and Director of KMA since its inception in 1981. Born in Dublin, Ireland, he graduated from the National University School of Architecture in 1974 and emigrated to Canada in 1975.

Peter Ng

Peter joined KMA in 1987 after graduating from the University of Toronto and became an associate of the firm in 1993. He has acted as Design Project Director for almost all major projects carried out by the firm including Senator O’ Connor College School, St. Patrick’s Hospital in Dublin, Ireland, the new Canadian High Commission in Kuala Lumpur, and the Canadian Consulate in Sao Paulo, Brazil. He is currently the Design Project Director for the renovation of the University of Toronto’s South Building in Mississauga and the Canadian Trade Office in Taipei for the Department of Foreign Affairs Canada.

Gow Hastings Architects

Gow Hastings Architects specializes in academic and institutional projects. The firm unites a multicultural perspective and comprehensive design services with agility and creativity throughout all aspects of design and construction and a creative process rooted in inquiry, collaboration, and a constant search for imaginative resolutions to familiar problems. Gow Hastings aims to translate the unique personality and ideals of the institution into physical form, while enhancing functionality and addressing the broader physical context.

Philip Hastings

Born in England, Philip grew up in Toronto and rural, eastern Ontario, and worked in Canada and abroad. This diversity of culture and experience has heightened his awareness of his surroundings and sharpened his resourceful and creative approach to design. Philip holds a bachelor’s of science degree in biology from McGill University (1988), and a bachelor’s of architecture from the University of British Columbia (1994). Philip founded Philip Hastings Architect in 2001 and co-founded Gow Hastings Architects in 2002 after significant experience as a Project Architect at both Teeple Architects (Toronto) and Dixon Jones Architects (UK). He also worked for Stuart Howard Architects (Vancouver).

Valerie Gow

Certified in both interior design and architecture, Valerie combines a comprehensive understanding of design with a lyrical sense of material, colour, and space, leading to projects of clarity and finesse. Valerie graduated from Ryerson Polytechnic University with a degree in interior design (1990), and a bachelor’s of architecture from the University of British Columbia (1994). She joined the practice in 2002 after many years with significant firms. Valerie was Project Architect for KPMB Architects (Toronto), Austin-Smith: Lord Architects (UK), and Christopher Bozyk Architects (Vancouver) where she gained considerable interior design experience.

Architects’ Vision

“From our perspective, we always talked about creating a sense of transparency… And giving people a sense of what goes on inside the school.” —Architects Jonathan Kearns and Philip Hastings, as quoted in Azure, June 2009

George Brown College’s recent renovation and expansion of their Centre for Hospitality and Culinary Arts at 300 Adelaide Street East and the historic Muirhead Company Building (1914) on axis to the south at 215 King Street East energize and strengthen its presence as the “College in the City.” Transparent architecture promotes the life of the Centre and the new restaurant, The Chefs’ House (at 215 King), exposes the programs in each building to the outside world.

George Brown College links its two locations with exterior architectural play—coloured glazing—and a visual axis along Frederick Street. Their geography and visual connectivity from King Street to Adelaide Street creates a busy student thoroughfare along Frederick Street. Physically revitalizing the campus, these two new buildings also surge the area with visible life, showcasing George Brown’s culinary students to the neighborhood.

Features of architectural note at The Centre for Hospitality and Culinary Arts include:

• A new four-storey-high, floor-to-ceiling coloured glazing frontage on Adelaide that exposes four kitchen labs to the street, making chefs and their culinary performances immediately available to the public
• A main-event space created by elevating the bottom of the atrium from the basement to the main floor
• A newly configured second-floor cafeteria with a circular opening giving it more focused natural daylight from the atrium
• Exhaust hoods in the culinary labs with digital sensors that adapt to ventilation demands and reduce energy consumption
• A recovery system that gathers heat from these same exhaust hoods and circulates it to reheat the building

Features of architectural note at The Chefs’ House include:

• Architectural adaptation and re-use that meld the old and new and respect and preserve this heritage building
• New super-scaled exterior glazing that contrasts the existing brick
• An open kitchen and food-preparation area in the corner and storefront windows that creates a dramatic chef-centered identity
• Dark wood floors, exposed brick walls and wood ceilings that form the backdrop for a vibrant new kitchen, bar, and dining area
• A state-of-the-art ventilated ceiling system and a vivid ecological palette that showcase an efficient, durable, and sustainable design

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