SYDNEY BROWNE
B.E.S., B. Arch, OAA, MAA, AAA, FRAIC, LEED AP
Principal, Diamond Schmitt Architects
Environmental, technological, and social forces are challenging everything from art to education to commerce to healing and beyond. Design has the capacity to navigate this change through invention, beauty, and a shared sense of collective purpose. Over three decades of architectural practice, Sydney has championed this approach through thoughtful and informed building in the public realm.
Sydney was educated through the University of Waterloo School of Architecture’s cooperative study/work program and, via an international foundation scholarship, University College Dublin. A principal at Diamond Schmitt since 2010 and the first woman appointed as a director in the firm, she has led teams in the design of cultural, academic and social infrastructure projects in Canada and the US. In parallel capacities, Sydney has served as a peer assessor for the Canada Council for the Arts, a visiting critic, lecturer and mentor.
Architecture is the work of many hands. Sydney has worked with a wealth of talented and committed collaborators, including her colleagues and partners at Diamond Schmitt, skilled fabricators, trades and artists, and - critically - clients who see the potential and value in this shared work.
Each project brings new lessons. The most meaningful aspects of each design advance beauty, social purpose, and technical understanding in connected ways.
This collective work has been recognized through numerous awards for design and environmental stewardship including Canadian Green Building Council’s highest award for sustainable new construction, the Ontario Architects Association Excellence in Design award, the Alberta Association of Architects/ Saskatchewan Association of Architects/Manitoba Association of Architects Prairie Design Award, Fast Company - Innovation by Design, and CODA for the integration of Art and Architecture.
B.E.S., B. Arch, OAA, MAA, AAA, FRAIC, LEED AP
Principal, Diamond Schmitt Architects
Environmental, technological, and social forces are challenging everything from art to education to commerce to healing and beyond. Design has the capacity to navigate this change through invention, beauty, and a shared sense of collective purpose. Over three decades of architectural practice, Sydney has championed this approach through thoughtful and informed building in the public realm.
Sydney was educated through the University of Waterloo School of Architecture’s cooperative study/work program and, via an international foundation scholarship, University College Dublin. A principal at Diamond Schmitt since 2010 and the first woman appointed as a director in the firm, she has led teams in the design of cultural, academic and social infrastructure projects in Canada and the US. In parallel capacities, Sydney has served as a peer assessor for the Canada Council for the Arts, a visiting critic, lecturer and mentor.
Architecture is the work of many hands. Sydney has worked with a wealth of talented and committed collaborators, including her colleagues and partners at Diamond Schmitt, skilled fabricators, trades and artists, and - critically - clients who see the potential and value in this shared work.
Each project brings new lessons. The most meaningful aspects of each design advance beauty, social purpose, and technical understanding in connected ways.
This collective work has been recognized through numerous awards for design and environmental stewardship including Canadian Green Building Council’s highest award for sustainable new construction, the Ontario Architects Association Excellence in Design award, the Alberta Association of Architects/ Saskatchewan Association of Architects/Manitoba Association of Architects Prairie Design Award, Fast Company - Innovation by Design, and CODA for the integration of Art and Architecture.
Project Spotlight
FANSHAWE COLLEGE INNOVATION VILLAGE
The Innovation Village at Fanshawe College is a collaborative space that caters to the different ways people learn.
The 128,000-square-foot facility transforms and expands the College’s core, bringing together students, faculty and professionals from across the campus and broader community for cross-disciplinary collaboration and to foster industry partnerships. Extensive engagement with students, faculty and the College’s advisor for Indigenous education informed the building’s design in unique ways, establishing a dynamic learning environment that is inclusive, accessible, and flexible to support diverse programming.
Located at the centre of the campus, the Innovation Village brings together previously disconnected spaces to create a new heart for Fanshawe College. Drawing on the incubator space model, the design reflects the College’s academic focus on hands-on, experiential learning.
At the core of the Innovation Village, the new Library Learning Commons demonstrates a commitment to inclusivity, and support for the College’s more than 400—and growing—Indigenous students. It is home to the Kalihwíyo Circle (Kalihwíyo meaning ‘good message’ -from the Oneida (OnΛyota’a:ka) language) and introduces Indigenous presence into the built fabric of the campus. Its circular form, deliberate choice of detail and materials create a place of trust and the gracious sharing of culture.
Environmental stewardship has been a design imperative and is demonstrated in sustainable building practices throughout the architecture, aligning with the College’s Innovation mandate. While the project connects and re-purposes multiple existing campus buildings of different vintages, new construction is highly resource- and energy-efficient. Key spaces incorporate mass timber, recycled material and extensive daylighting. Exterior cladding – the first of its kind in Ontario and an extension of Diamond Schmitt’s pioneering work in this medium – is a custom building-integrated photovoltaic rainscreen. Wrapping all facades of the new construction, the distinctive facetted glass provides on-site renewable energy to power the building and create a marker of change underway within the College.
FANSHAWE COLLEGE INNOVATION VILLAGE
The Innovation Village at Fanshawe College is a collaborative space that caters to the different ways people learn.
The 128,000-square-foot facility transforms and expands the College’s core, bringing together students, faculty and professionals from across the campus and broader community for cross-disciplinary collaboration and to foster industry partnerships. Extensive engagement with students, faculty and the College’s advisor for Indigenous education informed the building’s design in unique ways, establishing a dynamic learning environment that is inclusive, accessible, and flexible to support diverse programming.
Located at the centre of the campus, the Innovation Village brings together previously disconnected spaces to create a new heart for Fanshawe College. Drawing on the incubator space model, the design reflects the College’s academic focus on hands-on, experiential learning.
At the core of the Innovation Village, the new Library Learning Commons demonstrates a commitment to inclusivity, and support for the College’s more than 400—and growing—Indigenous students. It is home to the Kalihwíyo Circle (Kalihwíyo meaning ‘good message’ -from the Oneida (OnΛyota’a:ka) language) and introduces Indigenous presence into the built fabric of the campus. Its circular form, deliberate choice of detail and materials create a place of trust and the gracious sharing of culture.
Environmental stewardship has been a design imperative and is demonstrated in sustainable building practices throughout the architecture, aligning with the College’s Innovation mandate. While the project connects and re-purposes multiple existing campus buildings of different vintages, new construction is highly resource- and energy-efficient. Key spaces incorporate mass timber, recycled material and extensive daylighting. Exterior cladding – the first of its kind in Ontario and an extension of Diamond Schmitt’s pioneering work in this medium – is a custom building-integrated photovoltaic rainscreen. Wrapping all facades of the new construction, the distinctive facetted glass provides on-site renewable energy to power the building and create a marker of change underway within the College.
