Sustainable

A great architecture firm! Excellent design skills and they have a very organized and thorough process with lots of client involvement at critical stages. In regards to sustainability they really do know what they are talking about and how best to execute and implement meaningful strategies that maximize energy efficiency for the building. In an industry rife with "green washing" it is very helpful to have professionals like Sustainable TO who understand and value best practices for energy conservation and long term sustainability for the built environment.

We engaged Paul Dowsett the principal of SUSTAINABLE.TO to design a Car Port for us with the aim to create some privacy from a newly constructed condo which was going to give the condo dwellers direct view into our back yard. Paul assigned us to Nicholas Discenza. This firm listened and paid attention to our requests to create a contemporary, Zen like structure with 3 different heights, 3 textures and 3 heights. They produced a stunning design of what we wanted and more. In fact Nicholas Discenza went over and beyond expectations and came up with the Japanese technique of charring the wood, called Shou Sugi Ban which produces a dramatic effect, helps preserve the wood and makes its fire retardant. In our neighborhood, garage doors are fair game for the teens after school to love to “tag’ or spray paint the garage doors. with graffiti. Nicholas came up with a vinyl wrap that was applied to the garage door and all it takes is some “goo gone” and paper towels, to wipe away the tagging in just a few minutes. We are thrilled. We now have a shelter for the car, privacy, safety and a graffiti proof car port. The neighbors jokingly call it the Taj Mahal of Car ports. It’s very functional as well as beautiful. Thanks SUSTINABLE.TO and in particular Paul Dowsett and Nicholas Discenza.