BEAT is a volunteer-run organization made up of architects, designers, leaders, and entrepreneurs creating opportunities for community-building, advocacy, networking, and mentorship. We believe that empowering women in the design community improves and enriches the practice of architecture, the quality of the built environment, and ultimately, the human experience.
BEAT is continuing to work in collaboration with local Architects to provide a platform for promoting equality within the profession, through networking and leadership opportunities.
We are honored to have SvN Architects+Planners host the BEAT Talk session on Wednesday, January 19th, 2022.
Join us to hear from Principals Shonda Wang and Liana Bresler, along with Senior Associates Andrea Gaus, Danielle Whitley and Lina Al-Dajani, present recent SvN projects to share the firm's values and how these values impact the various projects and the communities they impact. Being an interdisciplinary design practice is the ability to integrate several different elements successfully. This session will focus on the theme of "integration" through four distinct aspects that relate to programmatic use, collaborators, stakeholders and the office culture of SvN itself. The panel will discuss what they mean by "integration." In each case study, the discrete aspects of their respective success allow them to represent the communities and clients they serve.
About SvN
SvN transforms big ideas into better communities.
SvN transforms big ideas into better mobility.
SvN transforms big ideas into better cities.
SvN is one of the only integrated design firms with urban designers, planners, architects, and landscape architects under one roof. As a multi-disciplinary office, our unique strength is our ability to offer clients a full-service team that can anticipate all the challenges that come with complex projects and develop robust, context-specific, flexible and resilient solutions. We tackle complex city-building projects where there are no ready-made solutions. Over the past 40 years, our firm has shaped the built environment in regions, cities, and towns worldwide. We have revitalized industrial waterfronts, developed new forms of affordable housing, designed resilient neighborhoods, stimulated improvements to the quality of the public realm, and promoted the economic development of both rural and urban regions.
Liana Bresler, OAA, MAA
Principal
Liana Bresler is a Principal at SvN with over 15 years of experience designing housing, libraries, and notable institutional projects. She is an effective leader who guides new construction and complex renovations at all scales. Liana is currently co-leading the integrated transit-oriented development team on the Ontario Line as the technical advisor to Metrolinx and Infrastructure Ontario and the Principal-in-charge for the Bob Rumball Centre Group Home for Deaf Youth, among other projects. Recent projects include the Lawrence Orton Community Centre and Childcare Facility. Before joining SvN, Liana was an associate with LGA Architectural Partners in Toronto and worked for several award-winning firms in New York and Barcelona. She received the Best Concept Award at the 2011 Ontario Association of Architects Awards.
Shonda Wang, MCIP, RPP
Principal
Shonda is a Principal at SvN with nearly two decades of experience in large-scale urban regeneration projects concentrated on mobility, planning, and design. She has led numerous pivotal and award-winning mobility-related projects linking the public realm, built form and transportation infrastructure. Shonda was the Planning and Urban Design Lead for RioCan REIT’s Master Plan and Zoning By-Law Amendment for the Shoppers World Brampton, a 53-acre site at the terminus of the Hurontario Light Rail Transit Corridor. She is currently the Lead Technical Advisor to Metrolinx and Infrastructure Ontario for Transit-Oriented Communities along the Ontario Line. Shonda is now supporting Metrolinx and Infrastructure Ontario in engagement with the City of Toronto to determine approaches to transit-oriented communities that balance delivery of technical, market and community requirements.
Lina Al-Dajani, MCIP, RPP, CSLA, OALA
Senior Associate
Lina Al-Dajani is a Senior Associate at SvN. A licensed landscape architect and registered urban planner, her areas of expertise include master planning, community engagement, urban design guidelines, policy review, and large-scale infill developments. Among her many responsibilities at SvN, Lina was the Project Lead on the Trent Lands and Nature Areas Plan and is the Project Manager and planner for the 53-acre Shoppers World Brampton Redevelopment. Lina is currently the Chair of the Canadian Society of Landscape Architects Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (JEDI) Task Force. She also leads the SvN JEDI Research Group.
Danielle Whitley, OAA, LEED AP
Senior Associate
Danielle Whitley is a licensed architect who works on project types ranging from single-family residential to complex large-scale institutional and commercial projects. Before joining SvN, she worked at Holt Renfrew, leading the interior renovation of vendor projects in Vancouver and Montreal. She has also worked for A+I in New York and KPMB Architects in Toronto. Danielle is actively involved in the academic community and is currently a sessional lecturer at the University of Toronto’s Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape, and Design.
Andrea Gaus, OAA, MRAIC, LEED AP
Senior Associate
Andrea Gaus is an architect who specializes in the planning, design, and construction of institutional and commercial projects across Ontario. She has worked with such clients as the University of Toronto, the University of Calgary, SmartREIT and the YMCA. This cumulative experience with diverse project types has led to her current specialization in large-scale, mixed-use buildings and mid- to high-rise residential developments. Andrea has worked closely with developers and Metrolinx to address the need for additional investment and intensification on Transit-Oriented Developments (TOD). These sites require planning for infrastructure that supports the convergence of multiple modes of transportation.
BEAT Talks qualifies for OAA Learning Hours.
Tickets are now available here: