Behind the Build: Shane Czypyha - Parkin Architects

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 architecture possible.

Over the last 12 years, Shane has helped Parkin’s West Coast studio grow from five people to nearly 100, building a portfolio rooted in healthcare and community-focused design. His work spans Canada’s most ambitious hospital projects, from Vancouver to the Maritimes, and includes the country’s first all electric hospital and some of the first healthcare facilities designed under the alliance contract model.

Shane’s passion lies in architecture as care. His team’s work centers on designing environments that foster healing, inclusion, and connection, whether through thoughtful planning, evidence based principles, or deep collaboration with health authorities, Indigenous partners, and builders. In addition to design, he is a leading voice in rethinking how large scale public projects are delivered, advocating for contracts and structures that prioritize people over process.

He lives in North Vancouver, surrounded by the landscapes that first drew him west, and remains as curious today as when he first picked up a floor plan magazine as a kid

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