Four Edmonton architects are among 37 members of their profession across the country recognized this year with fellowships by the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada.
R. Allan Partridge, Carol Belanger, Peter Osborne, Aziz Bootwala and their colleagues will be inducted this week during the institute’s College of Fellows convocation in Ottawa.
The college bestows the awards to celebrate outstanding achievement, including design excellence, exceptional scholarly contribution and distinguished service to the profession or the community.
Here’s what the organization says about the four local honourees:
R. Allan Partridge
Partridge, principal at Next Architecture Inc., has been committed to embracing new technologies that have become an important part of practice. His original firm, RAP Architecture, was one of the first in Alberta to incorporate computer technology in the 1980s.
He’s also one of the leading heritage professionals in Alberta. Partridge received a 2006 Canadian Architect award for the restoration and adaptive reuse of Edmonton’s historic Lodge (formerly Pendennis) Hotel as the new home for the Ukrainian Canadian Archives and Museum of Alberta.
Partridge is a founding member of CanBIM, a voice for the construction industry, the education community and owners, who are working collectively with building information modelling (BIM).
He has also been involved in architectural education as a member of the Innovative Practice Group in Architecture that delivered courses to master’s degree students at the University of Calgary, and as a faculty member at Athabasca University.
Carol Belanger
After 15 years in private practice, Belanger became a senior urban designer in the city’s planning and development group, chairing the Edmonton Urban Design Awards from 2005 to 2007.
In 2009, he was named Edmonton’s city architect, overseeing construction of park pavilions, recreation centres, libraries, police and fire stations and other civic buildings. He pushes the boundaries of the city’s vision to ensure structures are functional, beautiful, and re-engage citizens with architecture.
Belanger has worked to institutionalize good design and emphasize the importance of urban and architectural design excellence to improve the city and its communities.
Peter Osborne
Osborne is a partner at GEC Architecture (GEC), a design firm with studios in Calgary and Edmonton that specializes in public architecture.
He’s interested in urban design and planning, and much of his work has focused on campus and city planning. Notable projects include NAIT’s Productivity and Innovation Centre and the University of Alberta’s Peter Lougheed Hall residence.
Osborne is an advocate for design excellence and has published a number of articles. He has served as a director of the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada’s Alberta chapter and in 2015 was president of the Alberta Association of Architects.
Aziz Bootwala
Bootwala is senior principal and vice-president business development at Kasian, which he joined in 1994. In 2007, he moved with his family to Kasian’s new office in Dubai, while also creating offices in Abu Dhabi and Mumbai.
In 2011, he became managing principal for Stantec Middle East, being involved with master planning for several large mixed-use developments and hospitals that ranged from 200 to 800 beds.
Bootwala rejoined Kasian in 2016. He has contributed to projects such as South Edmonton Common, a 50-storey residential tower in the Middle East, the Edmonton Federal Building redevelopment and Edmonton headquarters Jamatkhana (gathering and religious space) for the Ismaili community.
He shares his knowledge with interns and young architects, serving as an inspiration and an example, especially to people from Canadian minority groups.
GORDON KENT
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