Diamond Schmitt Architects is a Canadian

architectural firm In the United States, an architectural firm or architecture firm is a business that employs one or more licensed architects and practices the profession of architecture; while in South Africa, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Denmark and other countri ...

founded in 1975. It is headquartered in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

. The firm was founded by architects Jack Diamond and Donald Schmitt.Robinson, John. "Architecture for the People." ''

Toronto Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. The newspaper is the country's largest daily newspaper by circulation. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and part ...

'', 26 April 1987.

History

In 1964, Jack Diamond was the Founding Director of the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution ...

's Master of Architecture program. Diamond worked closely with

Barton Myers Barton Myers (born November 6, 1934) is an American architect and president of Barton Myers Associates Inc. in Santa Barbara, California. With a career spanning more than 40 years, Myers is a fellow of the American Institute of Architects and w ...

, an American and Canadian architect, and is currently the president of Barton Myers Associates Inc. Myers established his own practice with Diamond in

in 1968. Starting this year, the architects founded their new firm Diamond and Myers. The two eventually split in 1975. Diamond Schmitt Architecture would not officially begin until 1974 when Jack Diamond established his own firm, A.J Diamond Architects. It was around this time that the partnership between Jack Diamond and Donald Schmitt began. Schmitt studied architecture at the University of Toronto where Diamond had worked, continuing his education until 1978. After thirteen years of A.J. Diamond Architects, in 1989, the firm had developed further when Jack Diamond partnered with Schmitt.

Founding

Abel Joseph "Jack" Diamond was born in 1932 in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

, and had arrived in Canada in 1964, the same year he started working for the

. In 1970, Diamond had begun renovating a ceramics manufacturing plant, and adding living spaces on one of the floors. Five years later, Diamond established his company A.J Diamond architects, and three years later he would form his partnership with Donald Schmitt and Company. Donald Schmitt was born 1951 in

South Porcupine The city of Timmins, Ontario, Canada contains many named neighbourhoods. Some former municipalities that were merged into Timmins continue to be treated as distinct postal and telephone exchanges from the city core. According to Barnes, "With the ...

, a small mining town in northern

. He went to high school at the

Schools (UTS) and studied afterwards at the

Faculty of Architecture. Apart from the firm's founding principals, there are also 19 other principals, 9 senior associates, 37 associates, 8 directors, 129 registered graduates and student architects, and a support staff of 43.

Work in progress

David Geffen Hall David Geffen Hall is a concert hall in New York City's Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts complex on Manhattan's Upper West Side. The 2,200-seat auditorium opened in 1962, and is the home of the New York Philharmonic. The facility, designe ...

, New York City *

Robarts Library The John P. Robarts Research Library, commonly referred to as Robarts Library, is the main humanities and social sciences library of the University of Toronto Libraries and the largest individual library in the university. Opened in 1973 and n ...

Revitalization,

*Obzor Luxury Beach & Spa, Black Sea Residential Resorts, Obzor,

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedon ...

(with Urbiarch, Obzor) * Buddy Holly Hall of Performing Arts and Sciences, Lubbock, Texas *Lethbridge Crossings Leisure Complex, Lethbridge, Alberta *Medicine Hat Regional Hospital Redevelopment, Medicine Hat, Alberta

Awards

Diamond Schmitt Architects has received numerous regional, national and international awards for excellence in design. The firm was recognized in 2009 by

Deloitte Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited (), commonly referred to as Deloitte, is an international professional services network headquartered in London, England. Deloitte is the largest professional services network by revenue and number of profession ...

LLP, the

Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce The Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC; french: Banque canadienne impériale de commerce) is a Canadian multinational banking and financial services corporation headquartered at CIBC Square in the Financial District of Toronto, Ontario. ...

KPMG KPMG International Limited (or simply KPMG) is a multinational professional services network, and one of the Big Four accounting organizations. Headquartered in Amstelveen, Netherlands, although incorporated in London, England, KPMG is a net ...

, and the Queen’s University School of Business as being one of the 50 Best Managed Companies in Canada.

Canadian Governor General’s Awards for Architecture

*Village Terrace, Toronto, Ontario, 1985Governor General’s Medals Recipients
*Citadel Theatre, Edmonton, Alberta, 1986 *Metro Toronto

YMCA YMCA, sometimes regionally called the Y, is a worldwide youth organization based in Geneva, Switzerland, with more than 64 million beneficiaries in 120 countries. It was founded on 6 June 1844 by George Williams in London, originally ...

, Toronto, Ontario, 1986 *

Earth Sciences Centre Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to harbor life. While large volumes of water can be found throughout the Solar System, only Earth sustains liquid surface water. About 71% of Earth's surface ...

, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, 1994 *

Richmond Hill Central Library Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Richmond, London, a part of London * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, ...

, Richmond Hill, Ontario, 1994 *

York University York University (french: Université York), also known as YorkU or simply YU, is a public university, public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's fourth-largest university, and it has approximately 55,700 students, 7,0 ...

Student Centre, Toronto, Ontario, 1996 * Bridgepoint Hospital, Toronto, Ontario 2016

Ontario Architect's Association Awards

*2020: Senate of Canada Building in joint Venture with KWC Architects Inc *2007: Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts

BusinessWeek/Architectural Record Awards

*2004: Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Jerusalem, Israel *2007: The Four Seasons Center for the Performing Arts, Toronto, Ontario, Canada *2008: Shakespeare Theatre at the Harman Center for the Arts, Washington, D.C., USAArchitectural Record Awards 2008
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References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Diamond Schmitt Architects Architecture firms of Canada Companies based in Toronto 1975 establishments in Ontario