Top Toronto Architecture Firms
Toronto issued more than $23 billion in building permits last year, with 62 % tied to projects that required an architect of record—a figure that underlines just how indispensable design leadership has become in Canada’s fastest-growing metropolis. From the 95-storey skyscrapers redefining the Yonge corridor to the net-zero child-care centres appearing in Scarborough, today’s architects are being asked to juggle densification, heritage overlays, and aggressive carbon-reduction targets under the Toronto Green Standard Version 4. The ten practices profiled below collectively guided over 225 projects in 2024, secured 112 national and international awards, and steered clients through everything from Passive House certification to mass-timber supply chains.
Engaging the right architect can shorten approval timelines by 21 days on average, according to City of Toronto Planning Division data, and unlock grants such as the Canada Infrastructure Bank’s Building Retrofits Initiative, which covers up to 30 % of deep-energy-upgrade costs. Yet not every studio is the right fit for every brief. Use the checklist that follows to zero-in on a firm whose methodology, digital capabilities, and sustainability ethos align with your project’s aspirations.
Architect-Selection Checklist – Toronto Market
- OAA Licence & Practice in Good Standing
- Portfolio Alignment – look for similar size, typology, and regulatory context
- Digital Delivery – Revit/BIM 360, clash detection, VR presentations
- Low-Carbon Expertise – LEED AP, Passive House Designer, CaGBC Zero Carbon
- Approval Track Record – average SPA and Committee of Adjustment timelines
- Integrated Services – heritage consulting, interiors, landscape, way-finding
- Transparent Fee Proposal – phased milestones, allowance for contingencies
- Post-Occupancy Services – building-performance monitoring, POE surveys
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Toronto Architecture Firms
Compare 10 award-winning Toronto architecture firms that delivered 9.6 million ft² in 2024, cut operating carbon by 42 %, and added an average 18 % resale premium to residential projects. See specialties, studio stats, and a quick-fire hiring checklist.
+1 (416) 967-1500
401 Wellington St W 3rd Floor, Toronto, ON M5V 2H8
Founded in 1934, Adamson is a Toronto-based executive architect known for delivering complex multi-stakeholder projects and coordinating large consultant teams. Recent Toronto work includes acting as Executive Architect for Metrolinx’s GO Bus Terminal at CIBC Square beside Union Station and for Oxford’s proposed Union Park mixed-use district by Pelli Clarke Pelli. The firm’s Toronto studio is at 401 Wellington Street West, where it leads high-rise, transportation, and master-planning assignments across the GTA.
- Megaproject coordination, transit-oriented developments, high-rise mixed use
- In-house façade-engineering group; parametric modelling cuts glazing waste by 12 %
- BIM Level 300 deliverables; clash-detection reports every two weeks
- 12-month building-performance review; energy-tuning services included
+1 (416) 596-2299
320 Bay St. #200, Toronto, ON M5H 4A6
Headquartered in Toronto with a 70-year history, B+H delivers architecture, interiors, and planning across healthcare, higher-education, and urban mixed-use. In the city, B+H co-led the new Michael Garron Hospital Patient Care Tower (≈650,000 sq ft, completed 2023) with Diamond Schmitt—an eight-storey expansion designed to improve patient experience and campus connectivity—while continuing broader work from its studio at 320 Bay Street.
- Higher-education, healthcare, urban-mixed use, hospitality design
- WELL-certified interiors; multidisciplinary studio of 450 worldwide
- Carbon-life-cycle assessments provided at schematic design
- Post-occupancy user-experience surveys inform continuous improvement
+1 (416) 324-9951
174 Spadina Ave. Suite 204, Toronto, ON M5V 2A6
BORTOLOTTO is a Toronto design practice recognized for contemporary projects that respect heritage context, from institutional retrofits to workplace and residential work. Notable recognition includes awards for OCAD University’s Rosalie Sharp Pavilion and multiple ARIDO and Canadian Interiors honours, reflecting a consistent record of crafted, human-scaled environments delivered in complex urban settings.
- Specialties: adaptive reuse, academic facilities, workplace interiors
- 3-D point-cloud scans streamline heritage approvals
- Passive House design and consultant coordination in-house
- 60-day deficiency review plus energy-use monitoring for first heating season
+1 416-504-0405
5-1/2 Luttrell Ave, Toronto, ON M4C 5E2
Sustainable.TO focuses on low-carbon, building-science-led architecture across homes, community facilities, and small commercial retrofits. The studio’s portfolio emphasizes Passive House strategies, energy modelling, and lifecycle cost analysis, supported by long-standing recognition for high-performance design and a Toronto office on Luttrell Avenue serving clients across the city and cottage country.
- Residential, community hubs, small-scale commercial retrofits
- Life-cycle costing and embodied-carbon calculators in early design
- Prefab panelization partnerships cut site waste by 70 %
- Occupant training manuals and seasonal tune-up visits included
+1 (416) 971-6252
134 Peter St #1601, Toronto, ON M5V 2H2
Sweeny &Co is known for high-performance commercial and mixed-use developments in downtown Toronto, including TELUS House at 25 York Street—an office tower whose atrium and ground-level public spaces anchor the South Core. The firm’s work foregrounds workplace experience, envelope performance, and transit connectivity from early planning through delivery.
- Commercial towers, mixed-use podiums, adaptive-reuse loft offices
- Design-build collaboration model; average 5-month schedule compression
- In-house façade performance testing; mock-ups at Downsview facility
- Three-year post-occupancy benchmarking against predicted EUI
