In the workplace today, it is important that we are known to others, and to ensure that others are aware of our resourcefulness. Networking can be one of the most powerful and productive activities an individual can do to launch and manage their career. BEAT MIX at the Interface Showroom will be a platform to develop a series of relationships across Toronto’s Architecture and Design communities.

BEAT MIX will include five invited Featured Guests who are stationed in five specific Zones. The Featured Guests will comprise of Partners and Principals from local design firms of various sizes, along with leaders in adjacent professions. Participants will have the opportunity to interact with the Featured Guests and meet a succession of individuals in small groups throughout the evening.

BEAT encourages Interns, emerging practitioners and seasoned professional to join this interconnected community to share information, advice and opportunities.

Beverages and light refreshments provided curtesy of the Food Dudes. All guests are required to be 19 years of age or older. Limited space available.

Brenda Webster Tweel, Hons.BA, BEDS, M.Arch, MRAIC

Urban Places | Stantec

Brenda Webster Tweel holds a Master of Architecture (1988) and Bachelor of Environmental Design (1985) from the Technical University of Nova Scotia where she received the RAIC Student Medal. Prior to her education in Architecture, Brenda completed a BA Honours from Trinity College at the University of Toronto in Political Science and Economics.  She currently serves as a member of the Trinity College Building Project Steering Committee and the Architect Selection Advisory Committee as well as a member of the Board of the First Free Schoolhouse located in Corktown.

A champion for urban renewal with solid international experience, Brenda partners closely with infrastructure, financial, and government teams. She integrates technical foundations in Landscape Architecture, Architecture and Urban Design to build resilient solutions. With over 20 years’ experience in leading urban designs and master plans in Toronto, London and Berlin, Brenda has an exceptionally strong record for designing large, complex, multi-stakeholder projects.

She has nurtured an extensive network of design advocates in business, government, and academia and is an inspirational speaker. Before joining Urban Places in 2017 she spent close to a decade on urban revitalization at Waterfront Toronto.  Having previously worked as a Professor of Architecture, she continues to find time to join reviews at both McGill and the Daniels School. She has had great success with taking a studio approach to public engagement.  She gains understanding of community needs through iterative observations and conversations, tests the ideas through collaboration and delivers solutions that are embedded in the community governance.

Gloria Apostolou, BES, B.Arch, OAA, LEED AP

Principal | post architecture

Gloria Apostolou graduated from the University of Waterloo in 1997 with a Bachelor of Architecture Degree and a Bachelor of Environmental Studies Degree. She has interned in offices in Greece, Italy and Finland, before returning to Toronto where she worked with Baldwin & Franklin Architects for 10 years and eventually started her own practice. She is a licensed Architect with the Ontario Association of Architects and an accredited LEED Professional.

Post Architecture is a boutique architecture firm, based in Toronto, specializing in contemporary custom home design and residential transformations. They are known and respected for sensitive integration of new, modern design in traditional contexts, applying innovation to create spaces for an exceptional lifestyle.

They believe the spaces we inhabit, and also our lives, are blurring the distinction between our working, social, and private selves—and design naturally needs to respond to this. Residential clients are asking for the inclusion of home offices, restaurant-like kitchens, boutique hotel bedrooms, and spa bathrooms in their homes; their designs deftly cross disciplines and borrow from the research and development available in the commercial and retail sectors, for new solutions in lighting, fixtures, furnishings, and construction materials, to support the new living environments.  

Kathryn Seymour, Hons.BA, M.Phil, LL.B., M.Arch

Director of Marketing | PCL

Kathryn is currently the Director of Marketing, Canadian Buildings with PCL Constructors Canada Inc.  Prior to joining PCL in 2013, Kathryn was a Principal with Moriyama + Teshima architects where she worked for ten years managing business development, marketing and proposals.  Prior to her career in architecture and marketing, Kathryn was a lawyer initially practicing land use planning and municipal law with Smith Lyons and subsequently as Discipline Counsel with the Law Society of Upper Canada.  Kathryn received an honours Co-op degree in Recreation and Sociology from the University of Waterloo; an M.Phil. in International Relations from the University of Cambridge; her LL.B. from Osgoode Hall Law School; and her M.Arch from the University of Toronto.  Passionate about the environment, Kathryn is currently a member of the Board of Directors of Environmental Defence. When not chained to her desk, Kathryn reminisces about her youthful adventures bicycling solo across Canada, trekking to Everest Base Camp, and defeating Oxford at the British Henley as a member of the Cambridge University varsity squad.

Jayne Aspell, MRICS, MSc

Project Manager | PCL

As a highly skilled project manager at PCL Constructor Canada Inc. (Toronto), Jayne has over 16 years of professional experience in the construction industry. Jayne received an honours Bachelors of Science and Masters of Science from Salford University in the UK. She is also a professional member of the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors. 

She started her career as an apprentice quantity surveyor studying while working full-time. Through her experience, she worked in the field and was promoted to her current role of project manager. She has extensive experience working with clients and design teams to work through design solutions and meet budgeting and functionality requirements.

Jayne recently completed the $43M Billy Bishop Airport Revitalization project that involved both the renovation and addition to the existing terminal building at Billy Bishop Airport, while maintaining full operations.

When not at work, you can find Jayne with her two dogs or at a yoga studio. As an avid advocate for elevating women into leadership roles, Jayne is on the advisory committee of The Petra Initiative that tackles the external and integral challenge women face pursuing leadership. She is also the co-chair of PCL Toronto’s new Diversity and Inclusion Team.

Leslie Jen, BA (Adv), JD, B.Arch, FRAIC

Design Journalist | Marketing Director | superkül

Leslie holds degrees in English Literature and Law from the University of Saskatchewan, and a Bachelor of Architecture from the University of British Columbia. For nearly 12 years, she was the Associate Editor of Canadian Architect magazine, during which time she contributed significantly to the discourse of architecture and urbanism in Canada.

In her present role as Marketing Director at Toronto-based architecture firm superkül, Leslie works to develop the distinctive brand of the studio through focused research, strategic communication initiatives and promotional opportunities. She is concurrently authoring a book on Canadian architectural practices and their work that is scheduled for release by Figure 1 Publishing.

Additionally, Leslie maintains a consultancy practice, undertaking writing, editing and curatorial projects for several design magazines, award-winning architectural firms and arts organizations. She has been an invited jury member for exhibitions and awards programs, and her commitment to and advocacy for architecture and design manifests in her active role on the Board of Directors of the DesignTO Festival. Leslie was named a Fellow of the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada (FRAIC) in 2016. 

Shannon Hilchie, P.Eng

Owner and Principal | fæt lab

Shannon studied Structural Engineering at Dalhousie University, before becoming an associate at Blackwell Engineering. At Blackwell, she was privileged to work on some fantastic projects, such as Goldring Centre for High Performance Sport and NFCS Headquarters (including the longhouse). After many wonderful years at Blackwell, she decided to try something new, and worked with cast steel at Cast Connex. It was fun and she loved traveling North America, dealing with some of the top Architecture and Engineering firms in the world, but she missed designing. In 2014 she decided to start her own firm, faet lab. This allowed her to focus on feature elements and component design. Shannon also teaches the Structures curriculum in the Masters and Undergraduate programs at Daniels School of Architecture and Landscape design, University of Toronto.

When she is not having babies, she is also completing her Masters of Tensile Membrane Structures at the Anhault University of Applied Science, at the site of Bauhaus in Germany. Where there is also lots of beer.

Tickets are available through above link as of March 21st at noon.  All guests are required to be 19 years of age or older.  Limited space available.