Approach
Team
Awards

Firm Profile

McFarland Marceau Architects (MMA) is a Vancouver-based professional practice specialized in planning and architectural services for educational, recreational, cultural and institutional facilities. With over 40 years of designing successful buildings in all regions of British Columbia, MMA has demonstrated a long-standing commitment to the needs, schedule and budget of our clients. Placing collaboration and design excellence at the forefront of our approach, we strive to produce buildings that are sensitive to both local conditions and the global environment, while responding to the demands for functionality, flexibility, envelope integrity, sustainability and ease of maintenance. Above all, MMA maintains the goal of producing buildings that are cherished by their owners and users.

Approach

Collaboration MMA is well known for its collaborative approach and its ability to foster consensus amongst the many stakeholders in a building development process. We have developed surprisingly effective tools to stimulate engagement from stakeholders, elicit broad input and integrate consultation results into a design process that remains respectful to all. The partnerships that we build with clients, users, sub-consultants, community members, builders and operators have helped us deliver well-performing buildings, built on time and on budget, efficient to maintain, and pleasant to inhabit.

Sustainable Design Our firm is recognized for its sustainable approach to architecture, having coordinated many LEED certifications, including the first building in Canada to be certified LEED Platinum: the Gulf Island Operations Centre. Our firm also achieved a second LEED Platinum for this facility, LEED EBOM (Existing Building Operations and Maintenance), demonstrating that the strategies and modelling originally used were still valid after 5 years of operations.To achieve a design that optimizes its sustainable potential, we focus our efforts on a rigorous site assessment, careful analysis of potential heat gains (being one of the greatest issues in modern buildings), durable envelope, simple water savings strategies, ease of composting & recycling, acoustic performance, natural and local materials, and a simple, efficient, user-friendly mechanical system.

Management Under our rigorous management approach, we use value-management to program, plan and design buildings, relying on well-established quality control mechanisms to ensure that each building maintains a high quality of execution and finish, while remaining on budget and schedule. We favour communications that promote direct, clear and frequent interactions between people, and encourage a spirit of teamwork and cooperative problem-solving.

Team

The team at MMA consists of a dynamic and enthusiastic group of professionals, young and less young, built around a stable core of highly experienced architects who have been with our practice for many years – all committed to excellence in design and exemplary client service. We approach each project with a high level of care, pride in our work and respect for all project participants.

Awards

2020 | Honour Award | North American Wood Design and Building Awards
Trades Training Centre, Northern Lights College

2019 | Large Institutional Building Award | Canadian Green Building Awards
Trades Training Centre, Northern Lights College

2017 | Vision Award for Outdoor Lighting Design | IESBC Vision Awards
Creekside Paddling Centre

2015 | Wood Design Award | Canadian Wood Council+ WoodWorks!
UBC Bioenergy Research & Demonstration Facility

2015 | Wood Design Award | Canadian Wood Council+ WoodWorks!
UBC Okanagan Fitness and Wellness Centre

2015 | Wood Design Award | Canadian Wood Council+ WoodWorks!
North Vancouver Outdoor School – Environmental Learning Centre

2015 | Wood Champion Award | Canadian Wood Council+ WoodWorks!
Marie-Odile Marceau

2013 | Merit Award – Wood Design & Building Awards | Canadian Wood Council
UBC Bioenergy Research & Demonstration Facility

2013 | Merit Award – Wood Design & Building Awards | Canadian Wood Council
UBC Okanagan Fitness and Wellness Centre

2013 | Citation Award – Wood Design & Building Awards | Canadian Wood Council
North Vancouver Outdoor School – Environmental Learning Centre

2013 | Lieutenant-Governor of British Columbia – Merit | Architectural Institute of BC
North Vancouver Outdoor School – Environmental Learning Centre

2012 | Masonry Design Awards Award of Merit – Structural | Masonry Institute of BC
École au Coeur-de-l’ile

2012 | Award of Merit | VIREB Commercial Building Awards
École Mer-et-montagne

2012 | Honourable Mention | VIREB Commercial Building Awards
École Mer-et-montagne

2012 | Merit Award | Canadian Architect Awards of Excellence
North Vancouver Outdoor School – Environmental Learning Centre

2012 | Institutional Wood Design | Canadian Wood Council+ WoodWorks!
École au Coeur-de-l’ile

2012 | Green Building Award | Canadian Wood Council+ WoodWorks!
École Mer-et-montagne

2011 | Citation Award | Wood and Building Design Awards
École au Coeur-de-l’ile

2011 | Citation Award | Wood and Building Design Awards
École Mer-et-montagne

2011 | National Green Building Award | Sustainable Architecture & Building Magazine
Deep Bay Field Station, VIU Shellfish Research Centre

2011 | BC Wood Design Award – Institutional | Canadian Wood Council + WoodWorks!
Tla’Amin Community Health Centre

2010 | Citation Award | Wood and Building Design Awards
Saanich Junior High School

2008 | Holcim Awards Acknowledgement Prize | Holcim Awards for Sustainable Construction
North Vancouver Outdoor School – Environmental Learning Centre

2007 | Award of Excellence – Green Building | Royal Architectural Institute of Canada
Gulf Islands National Park Reserve Operations Centre

2007 | Award of Excellence | Consulting Engineers of British Columbia
Gulf Islands National Park Reserve Operations Centre

2006 | Award of Excellence | Consulting Engineers of British Columbia
North Cariboo Community Campus (College of New Caledonia)

2006 | Wood Design Award – High Performance Building | Canadian Wood Council
Gulf Islands National Park Reserve Operations Centre

1998 | Merit Award – Commercial Category | Canadian Wood Council
Bamfield Community School

1994 | Governor Generals Award | Royal Architectural Institute of Canada
First Nations House of Learning, UBC

1994 | Merit Award – Commercial Category | Canadian Wood Council
First Nations House of Learning, UBC

1990 | Ronald J. Thom Supreme Award | Canadian Wood Council
Chatham Village