The University of Waterloo School of Architecture is a leader in design education and research.
Offering a fully cooperative professional program, Waterloo Architecture is the only Canadian school of architecture to have a permanent international facility, which has operated since 1979 in Rome, Italy. The school attracts top students from across Canada and around the world and has been rated the greenest architecture curriculum in Canada.
Find out more about Waterloo Architecture.
News
Waterloo Architecture students share research with Cambridge Today
The University of Waterloo School of Architecture in Cambridge is showcasing student-led research that responds to community needs at local and international scales. Two recent projects highlight how Waterloo students combine design, technology, and collaboration to advance affordable housing and accessibility.
Lola Sheppard Co-Curates Arctic Housing Exhibition
Waterloo Architecture Professor Lola Sheppard is co-curator of Sikumit Aisimajugut / At Home on Ice, an exhibition that explores ideas of home and housing across Inuit Nunangat—from the intimate scale of domestic spaces to the broader forces of policy, logistics, and climate change.
Waterloo Architecture Students Reimagine Affordable Housing for Kensington Market
Earlier this month, students from the University of Waterloo School of Architecture showcased innovative housing concepts in Toronto’s Kensington Market as part of an exhibition titled “What Could a Community Land Trust Neighbourhood Look Like?” The exhibition, held December 13 - 21, featured work from the studio course “Architectures of Relation: Infilling Affordable Housing in Kensington Market,” led by Associate Professor Adrian Blackwell.
Events
Samantha Eby - Emerging Practitioner Fellowship Talk
Samantha Eby, Emerging Practitioner, Waterloo Architecture
Samantha Eby is a licensed architect and researcher based in Toronto. Through her work she explores the intersection of design, policy frameworks, and ownership models, focusing on their impact on housing projects. In 2024, she founded this—office, an architecture and spatial research practice committed to exploring new typologies and models of architecture through non-traditional collaborations and research. She is also the co-founder and the Executive Director of ReHousing, a nonprofit organization focused on supporting housing creation through applied research, consultation, and education. ReHousing’s work on multiplex zoning was recognized with the 2023 CMHC President’s Medal for Outstanding Housing Research.
Angie Jim - Making a Home
Angie Jim, Allies & Morrison
What truly defines "homes for all" in our rapidly growing cities? In this talk, Angie Jim Osman, Partner at Allies and Morrison, explores how thoughtful design and density can nurture communities, championing sustainable, resilient neighbourhoods built for the long term. Drawing on Allies and Morrison’s deep experience with complex urban regeneration sites—from King’s Cross to Greenwich Peninsula in London—Angie will reveal how these foundational lessons are now being adapted to reshape Toronto.
Film Screening: Thinking Beyond the Market: A film about genuinely affordable housing
Brian Doucet, University of Waterloo
Thinking Beyond the Market: A film about genuinely affordable housing takes you across Canada to learn about policies, programs and projects that are already happening and already having a positive impact on addressing the housing crisis. From using public land to build non-market housing in Kitchener and Whistler, and inspiring Indigenous-led projects in Vancouver, to strong tenant protections and rent control in British Columbia and Prince Edward Island, the examples featured in this film demonstrate how many important solutions are making a difference in communities big and small! The film features interviews with more than 30 planners, policymakers, politicians, developers, residents and housing advocates from coast to coast. The film inspires and challenges us to think about both the root causes of the housing crisis and transformative solutions.