Couple combines to make history with architecture honour

Vancouver architects David and Susan Scott have woven their individual practices into one entity so successfully that judges on the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada’s selection panel couldn’t pick one over the other to bestow its 2016 Young Architect Award upon.

So the institute gave the award to both, who practise under the name Scott & Scott Architecture, for work described as “a full investigation of the possibilities of design from building down to the smallest components that make up the environment,” in the words of the judges’ citation.

“It’s atypical,” said RAIC executive director Jody Ciufo of the joint award. “It’s the first time it has been awarded to a couple.”

Ciufo added that the Young Architect Award has a short history, having been initiated in 2011, but this is the first time the award has come to British Columbia.

The award recognizes architects 40 years old or younger for excellence in design as well as leadership and service to the profession, and “it was nice to see it go west of Ontario this time,” said David Scott.

“It’s surprising, it’s exciting,” Susan Scott said of the award, but added that it likely won’t change their ambition, which is to continue designing projects where they can remain in close contact to the building process.

“We don’t intend to grow into a massive, world-dominating architectural firm.”

“We like designing around how things are built,” said David, “really kind of engaging with the construction process and how we consider the design of buildings.”

That goes back to their graduate education in architecture at Nova Scotia’s Dalhousie University (where they first met), which stressed the craft of building, David said. And their attention to craft can be seen in the projects they’ve taken on as a studio, from the designs of local restaurants Bestie, Torafuku and Kin Kao to wilderness cabins — including a home for David’s parents at Lac le Jeune near Kamloops — and their own alpine retreat at Mount Cain on northern Vancouver Island.

They’ve also designed homes on Bowen Island, Tofino, Squamish and Whistler and were selected as part of an international team with firms from Sweden and Norway to create an alpine community in California’s Sierra Nevada mountains.

Clients can also experience the Scotts’ approach to architecture that displays “a quality of light and proportion,” (according to the RAIC judges) by visiting their street-level studio in east Vancouver, which they also designed. Individually, the Scotts began carving out careers with prestigious local firms: Susan at James Cheng Architects and Mcfarlane Green Biggar Architecture + design and David at Peter Cardew Architects.