Vancouver, B.C.
ABOUT BING THOM • Bing Thom was born in 1940 in Hong Kong and immigrated to Vancouver in 1950.
• In 1966 he received a bachelor’s degree in architecture from the University of British Columbia and, three years later, a master’s degree from the University of California, Berkeley.
• After graduating from Berkeley, Thom taught architecture at the National University of Singapore and then worked for a year in Tokyo with the acclaimed architect-urbanist Fumihiko Maki.
• Returning to Canada in the early 1970s Thom worked as a project director for Arthur Erickson, who had been his mentor at UBC. Thom oversaw major projects such as the Robson Square complex of government offices and law courts in downtown Vancouver and Roy Thomson Hall in Toronto.
• In 1982 Thom founded his eponymous firm, Bing Thom Architects, based in Vancouver. Among BTA’s many noteworthy projects is the multi-awardwinning Arena Stage in Washington, D.C., the Chan Centre for the Performing Arts at UBC, the Epcor Centre for the Performing Arts in Calgary, and the Surrey City Centre Library in suburban Vancouver. One of Thom’s best-known projects is the zinc-clad Canada Pavilion for Expo ’92 in Seville, Spain, which was retained as a legacy of the fair.
PORTRAIT BY THOMAS BILLINGSLEY
• Bing Thom was honoured this year with a Gold Medal from Architecture Canada/RAIC. BTA has also been the recipient of the prestigious Firm Award from Architecture Canada/RAIC, in 2010.
• In 1995 Thom received the Order of Canada, and in 2010 the Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal. He holds honorary degrees from UBC and Simon Fraser University, as well as an honorary professorship at Tongji University in Shanghai.
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