Behind the Build

Bishop McDowell is a design-forward architecture practice based in Halifax, Nova Scotia, co-founded by Matthew Bishop and Lucas McDowell in May 2024. Long-time collaborators, the two met while working at a Halifax-based architecture firm, where they spent years refining their skills on residential projects and developing a mutual respect for each other’s approach to design, detail, and construction. A pivotal shared project—one the...

Don Schmitt is a founding partner of Diamond Schmitt Architects, one of Canada’s most respected architectural practices. He was born in South Porcupine, a small mining town in northern Ontario, and grew up surrounded by nature. After moving to Toronto in his teens, he was introduced to the city’s architecture while attending high school near the University of Toronto. A Christmas gift of The Master Builders by Peter Blake, chronic...

Janna Levitt is a founding partner of LGA Architectural Partners and a respected leader in socially conscious architecture in Canada. Raised in a Toronto home filled with artists—her mother a celebrated ceramicist who participated in a short-lived federal program modeled on Japan’s National Treasures—Janna grew up surrounded by creativity, community, and cultural exchange.

She attended Nova Scotia College of Art and Design and then ...

Shirley Meisels is the founder and creative force behind the Toronto interior design studio M House Inc. With over 20 years of experience, she brings a sharp eye for detail, a deep respect for craftsmanship, and an intuitive understanding of how spaces should reflect the people who live in them.

Her creative journey began early, sketching fashion designs as a child, and later led her to pursue a degree in Fashion Design at Toronto M...

Gene Sandoval’s story is one of vision, resilience, and impact. Born in the Philippines, Gene grew up immersed in the world of craft and creation, watching shipbuilders shape vessels from simple materials in his family’s shipyard. By the time he was a teenager, his artistic instincts and fascination with form had already drawn him to architecture. At just 18, Gene left behind the comforts of home, arriving in the US to study at the...

Olly Bray is the founder of OB Architecture, an award-winning practice with studios in Winchester, London, and Chamonix. On this episode, Olly traces the personal and professional path that shaped his architectural journey, from childhood drawings in his grandfather’s Munich studio to launching a firm now designing homes and multi-unit developments across the UK and the French Alps.

Olly shares how an early familial nudge toward arc...

Sacha Lee is the founder and principal architect of Aeon Design, a Toronto based architecture and interiors studio focused on thoughtful, high performing residential and boutique commercial spaces. She grew up near Tillsonburg, Ontario, where a mix of farm work, construction site visits with her master builder grandfather, and an entrepreneurial family culture helped shape her early interest in architecture.

Sacha studied at the Uni...

Shane Czypyha is a principal at Parkin Architects and one of the founding forces behind their Vancouver office. A graduate of the University of Waterloo, Shane’s path into architecture began early, shaped by childhood sketching sessions, a basement full of LEGO, and a family of builders in small-town Ontario. That hands-on foundation led him to explore not just the built form but the systems and relationships that make good archite...

Cori Halpern is the founder and principal designer at Cori Halpern Interiors, a Toronto-based studio known for its unapologetically personal and colour-forward spaces. Her work balances artistry with livability. With a career spanning over 25 years, Cori brings a deep respect for craft and a clear understanding of how to turn creative ideas into built reality. She believes that a home should reflect the people who live in it: layer...

Amanda Large and Younes Bounhar are the co-founders of Doublespace Photography, a studio recognized internationally for its refined and evocative architectural photography. The pair came to the profession through distinctly different paths. Amanda trained as an architect and practiced for five years before stepping behind the lens. Younes, originally a molecular biologist, discovered his passion for photography after a career in sc...

Cindy Rendely’s journey into architecture was never a straight line. It began with a science degree in physiology and zoology from the University of Toronto, followed by an unexpected turn into jewelry design and metal arts. After moving to New York City, she immersed herself in its creative energy, eventually returning to Toronto to study goldsmithing at George Brown College. Her early career was spent crafting and selling one-of-...

Judah Mulalu is the founding architect of Ten-2-Four Architecture, a Toronto-based studio guided by a commitment to empathetic and inclusive design. Born in Botswana and initially pursuing a path in science, Judah’s journey shifted dramatically when a Bulgarian architect recognized his innate drafting talent and introduced him to architecture. That serendipitous encounter led him to Canada, where he studied architectural technology...

Limor Benmor-Mizrahi’s path to architecture was anything but linear—and that’s what makes her story so compelling. Trained initially in the sciences with aspirations of entering medicine, Limor’s journey took a sharp turn during a revelatory trip through Europe, where she fell in love with the built world. Since then, she’s crossed continents, studied at Tel Aviv’s Bauhaus-inspired Sadna School of Architecture and Pratt Institute i...

Anne‑Marie Armstrong is an architect, educator and co‑founding principal of AAmp Studio, the cross‑border practice she leads with partner Andrew Ashey from twin studios in Toronto, Ontario, and Portland, Maine.

Raised in Don Mills, Toronto, Armstrong spent childhood afternoons sketching with her painter‑grandmother and solving logic riddles with her mathematician father—an art‑and‑math pairing that still drives her design thinking. ...

Nadeen Rajani, is the newly minted principal of Drawing Room Architect, the Toronto studio known for marrying rigorous detailing with lived in warmth across custom homes and cottages.

Born in Abu Dhabi, raised in Saskatoon, and seasoned by solo backpacking through Europe, she brings a cosmopolitan lens to every project. After earning a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of Saskatchewan she completed her Master of Architectur...

Todd Saunders grew up on Newfoundland’s rugged coast, carving cabins and learning early that good buildings start with good stories. That hands-on childhood nudged him through a planning degree at Nova Scotia College of Art and Design, Halifax, Canada; a semester at Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, United States; and an M.Arch. at McGill University, Montréal, Canada. Stints with landscape architect Maria Auböck, Vienna, ...

Kfir Gluzberg is the founder and principal of Kilogram Studio, a Toronto-based architecture practice recognized for its inventive approach to residential, retail, and commercial interiors. Kfir’s path into architecture has been anything but linear—rooted in early artistic exploration, shaped by international education, and driven by a commitment to both cultural nuance and pragmatic design.

A graduate of the University of Waterloo’s...

Born in Guadalajara, Mexico, Andrés Muñoz Alarcón is the founder and creative force behind EStudio AMA, a thriving design practice based in Mexico City. A graduate of Universidad Iberoamericana, Andrés built his early foundation with summers spent abroad interning and studying in cities like Los Angeles, New York, Paris, and Chicago—experiences that shaped his global design sensibility and deepened his appreciation for architectura...

We celebrate Behind the Build turning one year old with a conversation that goes straight to the heart of where it all began. In this anniversary episode, Jonathan sits down with Bruce Borden — one of the original founders & co-principals of Walden Homes, alongside Danny Morris, & the person with whom the idea for this podcast was first imagined six years ago.

A founder, mentor, & process-driven thinker, Bruce shares the...