Photo by BOOKSTRUCKER PHOTOGRAPHY NORR Executive Team from left to right: Don Dessario, Hilde Ver Eecke, Tiffany Whitnack, Don Surphlis, Adrian Todeila, Carmen Kubrak, Bruce Mckenzie, Craig Abercrombie and Bretan Baumgardt.
NORR PUTS ITS STAMP ON
by Rennay Craats
Calgary Architecture
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“After the competition, NORR got a bit of an insight into our firm and asked if we’d like to join their global organization, so we joined in 2007,” says NORR Architects Engineers Planners vice president Bruce McKenzie.
Poon McKenzie teamed up with award-winning architect César Pelli and Toronto firm NORR Ltd. to put together a submission. They didn’t win the competition but what Poon McKenzie got was far better.
It was a good fit at the right time. Poon McKenzie had significant market share in the multi-family arena, senior living and hospitality but was seeking to find ways to achieve continued growth in Calgary. McKenzie and Poon were looking for a way to create exciting opportunities, offer share ownership to staff and achieve more of a global presence. NORR had it all. As an employee-owned organization, staff are rewarded for their collective success and hard work, which
hen Bruce McKenzie joined Poon & Associates to create Poon McKenzie in 1990, the local architecture firm was a small operation of eight. By 2006, it had grown to include a staff of 80 and its architects were vying for some of the biggest projects in the area. When Encana announced an international design competition for its headquarters, Poon McKenzie decided to throw their hat in the ring for a chance to design The Bow building.
• 80 YEARS
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