Decorating & Design
January 25, 2021
The Designers & Architects To Keep An Eye Out For In 2021
In our annual A-list issue, we honor and celebrate a roster of Canadian designers and architects who continue to do great work during these difficult times. Scroll down to discover the creatives who are challenging the status quo and trailblazing a path in the design world. Here’s to the power of true talent!
Jaclyn is a self-taught designer who launched her Manitoba business in 2006 after renovating her own mid-century modern home. Her palettes are timeless, building off a neutral base with lots of textures, and using perfectly considered materials and finishes that stand up to the wear and tear of family life.
Design Philosophy: “Every space should be as functional as it is beautiful.”
Why Now? Three of her projects were featured by Domino, including the olive kitchen for the co-owner of Jenna Rae Cakes (below), proving Jaclyn’s eye for color.
A pot filler and rail-and-hook system give a renovated kitchen in a Winnipeg bungalow retro flair.
A leggy sideboard is a stage for plants and collectibles in a bright dining room.
Nivek Remas principals Kevin (left) and Samer cut their teeth at Ryerson University, followed by positions at renowned firms including Yabu Pushelberg. Working on residential and commercial projects all over the world, they have developed reputations as risk-takers. The duo is behind the much-Instagrammed crimson and coral Planta Queen restaurant in Toronto, which illustrates their global aesthetic.
Design Philosophy: “The core of our philosophy is impactful and emotive design that conjures an immediate visceral reaction.”
Why Now? Their townhouse development of a former government building in Toronto sold out in a weekend. Next up is a 30,000-square-foot showroom gallery and client retreat for 2021.
A soaring Nero Marquina fireplace in an Oakville, Ontario, new-build is softened by rose velvet sofas and chairs.
In the library–cocktail bar, verdant houseplants and fringed velvet tub chairs give the space an indoor-outdoor vibe.
A carved granite sink and oiled-walnut panelling in the powder room off the library–cocktail bar.
Karin’s residential, multifamily and commercial projects have been consistently strong since she founded House of Bohn in 2009. Her role as design host on Netflix’s Restaurants on the Edge, a travelogue-inspired series that transforms restaurants around the world suffering from mediocre interiors and flagging sales (but stunning views or locations), makes Karin’s social feeds feel transportive.
Design Philosophy: “House of Bohn is known for pushing the envelope with our interior design projects. Sometimes we make our clients feel a little uncomfortable, and that’s good, because then we know we’ve done our job.”
Why Now? With more than 300,000 followers combined on her Insta feeds and YouTube channel, Karin is an engaging host who gives viewers an inside look at her projects, including a Parisian-inspired model home and sleek vegan pizza restaurant, Virtuous Pie.
Vintage-style mirrors and a custom black buffet lend a Parisian vibe to this dining room.
Karin wrapped woodland-themed wallpaper around this Pitt Meadows, B.C., showhome nursery.
Sarah will be familiar to H&H readers as a former partner at Qanūk Interiors. She’s appeared in the last three seasons of HGTV Canada’s Home to Win, as well as a new HGTV Canada series, Family Home Overhaul, which premiered this fall. Along with her cohost, contractor Brian McCourt, she elevates the design of outdoor spaces on HGTV Canada’s Backyard Builds (season four premieres in 2021).
Design Philosophy: “Working on exteriors has reignited my desire to design in a way that’s uniquely Canadian by sourcing native plants and local materials.”
Why Now? In the age of quarantine lockdowns, Sarah’s outdoor escapes in Backyard Builds provide much-needed relief. Whether it’s a life-size playhouse set among the trees for entertaining kids, a wellness retreat or an artist’s studio, extending a living space beautifully has never been so welcome.
A rough-cut fir pergola connects the new outdoor kitchen and indoor lounge at this Guelph, Ontario, home. Sarah also added a covered barbecue zone, and outdoor dining and lounging areas.
This narrow Toronto backyard was transformed with a saltwater pool, dining area and four-season home office.
The husband and wife team relocated from Los Angeles to Toronto in 2010. Since then, this architecture and interior design studio’s focus has been family home renovations in areas where the residential fabric is underdeveloped, plus new-builds and cottages. Andrew and Jodi Batay-Csorba take a fresh approach to Victorian, Tudor and Edwardian homes, using traditional materials in new ways and often relying on innovative façades and screening. The firm’s clever reno of a traditional home appeared in H&H’s February 2020 issue.
Design Philosophy: “We respect the heritage of the neighborhood while designing something that’s not just a recreation of the old.”
Why Now? Batay-Csorba Architects has been recognized with a slew of awards, including the 2020 Designing Canada Interior Design Award, an Ontario Association of Architects Design Excellence Award, and it was a finalist for the Mies Crown Hall Americas Prize for Emerging Architecture.
A barrel-vaulted kitchen in a new home in Toronto’s High Park neighborhood.
Since 2007, this full-service practice has focused on modern design, interiors and landscapes led by principals Piers Cunnington (top, right) (an alumni of Shim-Sutcliffe Architects), and Clinton Cuddington (top, left) (formerly of Bing Thom Architects). The firm emphasizes green materials and elevating humble elements like rotary-cut plywood with forward, dynamic design for results that are groundbreaking and individualistic.
Design Philosophy: “We believe in the continuous pursuit of local sustainable materials and partnerships with local craftspeople.”
Why Now? A fixture in Western Living’s annual Designers of the Year list (and past winners), Measured Architecture made Vancouver’s EnerGuide list for top energy-efficient laneway homes.
A bedroom addition in a North Vancouver renovation project.
House & Home December 2020
Produced by Emma Reddington