KPMB is a Canadian architecture firm founded by Bruce Kuwabara, Thomas Payne, Marianne McKenna, and Shirley Blumberg, in 1987. It is headquartered in Toronto, where the majority of their work is found. Aside from designing buildings, the firm also works in interior design. KPMB Architects was officially renamed from Kuwabara Payne McKenna Blumberg Architects to KPMB Architects on February 12, 2013.

Firm history KPMB Architects’ four founding partners were former associates of Barton Myers Associates, until Myers permanently relocated his practice to his Los Angeles office. Kuwabara, Payne, McKenna and Blumberg stayed in Toronto and formed their own studio. Thomas Payne left the firm to start a multidisciplinary architectural studio in 2013.

Early works KPMB's early projects were completed in association with Barton Myers, including Woodsworth College at the University of Toronto (1991) and the Art Gallery of Ontario Stage III Expansion (1992). Early on in the practice, KPMB won two major competitions: Kitchener City Hall and the Joseph S. Stauffer Library, the new central library for Queen's University in Kingston, ON.

KPMB and Toronto Many of KPMB's projects are found in their home town of Toronto. Early projects involved retrofits and infill projects juxtaposed with existing structures, including King James Place (1991) on Toronto's King Street East and the Design Exchange (1994), a retrofit of Toronto's former Stock Exchange building into an exhibition space for design.

In the 21st century KPMB completed a number of cultural facilities that contribute to what is known as the "Toronto Cultural Renaissance":Lisa Rochon, "Top 10 of 2006 KPMB," The Globe and Mail, December 19, 2006, R1. Roy Thomson Hall Enhancement (2002) home of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Canada's National Ballet School (2005) with Goldsmith Borgal Architects, the Gardiner Museum (2006), Young Centre for the Performing Arts (2006), TELUS Centre for Performance and Learning at the Royal Conservatory (2009), and the TIFF Bell Lightbox (2010) a permanent home for the Toronto International Film Festival.

Work outside of Toronto and Canada KPMB has a diverse portfolio of work across Canada, the United States and Europe.

Canadian projects include Le Quartier Concordia at Concordia University, the Remai Modern public art museum in Saskatchewan, and the LEED Platinum Headquarters Manitoba Hydro Place in Winnipeg, which some consider North America's most complex energy-efficient buildings in one of its most challenging climates.Charles Linn, "Cold Comfort," GreenSource Magazine, (New York: McGraw Hill/Architectural Record) March/April 2010,. 52-57. In 2022, KPMB Architects was named as the lead designer for the United Church of Canada's Kindred Works project, to transform underutilized United Church properties, including Toronto's Saint Luke's United Church, into multi-unit residential buildings housing 34,000 people over 15 years.

American projects include the Walgreen Drama Center for the University of Michigan, Sprague Memorial Hall for Yale University and the Goodman Theatre in Chicago. KPMB's current work includes projects for Princeton University, Orchestra Hall for the Minnesota Orchestra in Minneapolis and the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.

Major projects

Canada Kitchener City Hall, Kitchener, Ontario, 1993 Design Exchange, Toronto, Ontario, 1994 Royal Conservatory, Ettore Mazzoleni Hall, Toronto, Ontario, 1997 Stratford Festival Theatre Renewal, Stratford, Ontario, 1993 McKee Public School, North York, Ontario, 1998 Richmond City Hall, Richmond, British Columbia, 2000 Jackson-Triggs Niagara Estate Winery, Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, 2001 Ravine House, Toronto, Ontario, 2002 Roy Thomson Hall, Enhancement, Toronto, Ontario, 2002 St. Andrew's College, Aurora, Ontario, 2003 McGill University and Génome Québec Innovation Centre, Montreal, Quebec, 2003 James Stewart Centre for Mathematics, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, 2003 Centennial College Applied Research and Innovation Centre, Toronto, Ontario, 2004 Art Gallery of Hamilton, Hamilton, Ontario, 2005 Canada's National Ballet School, Project Grand Jeté, Toronto, Ontario, 2005 Le Quartier Concordia University, Engineering, Computer Science and Visual Arts, Montreal, Quebec, 2005 Woodbridge Offices, Toronto, Ontario, 2005 180 Queen Street West, Toronto, Ontario, 2006 Young Centre for the Performing Arts, Toronto, Ontario, 2006 Gardiner Museum, Toronto, Ontario, 2006 Ryerson University (now Toronto Metropolitan University) Master Plan, Toronto, Ontario, 2007 CTV Television Network Executive Offices, Toronto, Ontario, 2008 Nota Bene Restaurant, Toronto, Ontario, 2008 Torys LLP, Toronto, Ontario, 2008 One Bedford Residential Development, Toronto, Ontario, 2009 Branksome Hall Master Plan Update, Toronto, Ontario, 2009 Block 24 E, Railway Lands West – Neo & Montage Condominiums, Toronto, Ontario, 2009 Manitoba Hydro Place, Winnipeg, Manitoba, 2009 Royal Conservatory TELUS Centre for Performance and Learning, Toronto, Ontario, 2009 Le Quartier Concordia University, John Molson School of Business, Montreal, Quebec, 2009 Canadian Museum of Nature, Ottawa, Ontario, 2010 TIFF Bell Lightbox, Toronto, Ontario, 2010 Rosedale Clubhouse, Enhancement Feasibility Study, Toronto, Ontario, 2010 Le Quartier Concordia University, Guy-Métro Building Recladding, Montreal, Quebec, 2011 Maple Leaf Square, Bremner Blvd, Toronto, Ontario, 2011 The Power Plant Gallery, Refresh, Toronto, Ontario, 2011 Gluskin Sheff & Asscoaites, Toronto, Ontario, 2011 Vaughan City Hall, Vaughan, Ontario, 2011 Centre for International Governance Innovation Campus, Waterloo, Ontario, 2011 Southcore Financial Centre, PricewaterhouseCoopers Tower, Toronto, Ontario, 2011 Torys LLP, Calgary, Alberta, 2012 Roy Thomson Hall, Wine Bar, Toronto, Ontario, 2012 150 Dan Leckie Way, Toronto Community Housing Corporation, Toronto, Ontario, 2012 George Brown College, Daphne Cockwell Centre for Health Sciences, Toronto, Ontario, 2012 Mike & Ophelia Lazaridis Quantum-Nano Centre, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario, 2012 The Joseph L. Rotman School of Management Expansion, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, 2012 Munk School of Global Affairs, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, 2012 Elementary Teachers' Federation of Ontario, Toronto, Ontario, 2013 Sugino Studio, Toronto, Ontario, 2013 Bridgepoint Health, Toronto, Ontario, 2013 Ponderosa Commons, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, (Phase 1), 2013 Fort York Branch Library, Toronto, Ontario, 2014 Library District Condominiums, Toronto, Ontario, 2014 Southcore Financial Centre, Bremner Tower, Toronto, Ontario, 2015 Torys LLP, Montreal, Quebec, 2015 2015 Pan American Games/Parapan American Games Athletes’ Village | Canary District, Toronto, Ontario, 2015 Robert H. Lee Alumni Centre, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, 2015 St. Michael's Cathedral, Block Master Plan, Toronto, Ontario, 2015 Bay Adelaide East Tower and Podium, Toronto, Ontario, 2016 Ponderosa Commons, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, (Phase 2), 2016 Thornwood House, Toronto, Ontario, 2016 The Globe and Mail Office Interiors and Corporate Event Space, Toronto, Ontario, 2017 Global Centre for Pluralism, Ottawa, Ontario, 2017 Remai Modern Art Gallery of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, 2017 Ottawa Art Gallery (OAG) Expansion and Arts Court Redevelopment, Ottawa, Ontario, 2018 Wilson School of Design, Kwantlen Polytechnic University, Richmond, British Columbia, 2018 Lloyd Hall, Banff Centre for Art and Creativity, Banff, Alberta, 2018 Lawrence Hights, Toronto, Ontario, 2018 11 Wellesley, Toronto, Ontario, 2018 Canada's Diversity Gardens at Assiniboine Park, Winnipeg, Manitoba, 2019 University of Lethbridge Destination Project, Lethbridge, Alberta, 2019 11 Wellesley, Toronto, Ontario, 2019 Bloor Street United Church: 300 Bloor West, Toronto, Ontario, 2020 Massey Hall, Renovation and Expansion, Toronto, Ontario, 2020 University of Toronto, Landscape of Landmark Quality, Toronto, Ontario, 2020 Jack Layton Ferry Terminal and Harbour Square Park, Toronto, Ontario, Ongoing Saint Luke's United Church, Toronto, Ontario, ongoing

United States Ammirati Puris Lintas, New York City, 1997 Goodman Theatre, Chicago, Illinois, 2000 Sprague Memorial Hall, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, 2003 Charles R. Walgreen Jr. Drama Center & Arthur Miller Theatre, Ann Arbor, Michigan, 2007 The Study at Yale Hotel, New Haven, Connecticut, 2008 SugarCube, Denver, Colorado, 2008 Conrad Hotels, New York City, New York (state), 2012 Orchestra Hall Renewal, Minnesota Orchestra, Minneapolis, Minnesota, 2013 Adams Center for Musical Arts, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, 2015 Julis Romo Rabinowitz Building & Louis A. Simpson International Building, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey, 2017 Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois, 2017 Ronald O. Perelman Center for Political Science and Economics, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 2018

International Star Alliance Lounge, Zürich, Switzerland, 2001 Canadian Embassy Berlin, Berlin, Germany, 2005

See also Bruce Kuwabara Marianne McKenna Shirley Blumberg

References

External links