TSA CONNECT 2026: RAIC Fellows

Bill Curran is an architect who aims to transcend the ordinary, and he also does much interior and urban design work, and is a teacher, mentor, developer, writer and artist. After working in Toronto and Pittsburgh, he founded and has run an architectural firm for the past 21 years in Hamilton, and has taught with the RAIC Syllabus Program for 30 years. 

The recent Hagersville Library + Active Living Centre and Reimagine Southdale Affordable Housing project are worth a look. Bill’s projects are across a wide range of building types and sizes.

He is also addicted to Venice and is a devotee of its modern architectural gems, especially when crafted by Carlo Scarpa.

Bill Curran is a Fellow of the RAIC, and a member of the RAIC Ontario Southwest Regional Committee.

Eric Turcotte is a Partner with Urban Strategies Inc., one of Canada’s leading urban design firms, and has over 30 years of distinguished experience in architecture and urban design. He has led and contributed to important projects and major initiatives such as the University of Ottawa Master Plan, the Downtown Ottawa Urban Design Strategy 2020, Toronto’s CAMH Master Plan, and the landmark Eglinton Crosstown LRT project. Throughout his career, Eric has consistently championed architecture and design in city-making, collaborating with leading architectural firms, earning national and international recognition, and winning numerous awards.

Eric is a dedicated advocate for design excellence across Canada, consistently advancing the national design agenda. His efforts include serving as a member and chair of key Design Review Panels for the City of Toronto, Waterfront Toronto, and the City of Brampton, as well as contributing to several prominent design juries.

Eric regularly presents and lectures on design excellence and urban design, including the RAIC and industry conferences. As a bilingual professional, he is frequently featured in the press and media across Canada, providing insights on design, architecture, and sustainable urbanism. Eric’s notable contributions support design excellence throughout Canadian cities and foster progress within the architectural community.

Bill Birdsell received his Bachelor of Architecture from the University of Waterloo in 1984. He went on to found J. William Birdsell, Architect in Toronto in 1987. The practice has continued in Guelph since 1990.

He has designed a full range of small community based schools, churches, corporate, municipal, provincial, university and federal offices and a fleet ambulance centre. His interior design work has been distinguished by his time at The Co-operators General Insurance as Corporate Architect, where his insights on how great places to work can impact the creation of a workplace as a competitive tool. Currently he has focused his work on the adaptive re-use of structures and through those efforts has created landmark buildings in Brampton, London and Guelph.

Throughout his career, Bill has served the profession as a mentor. He has participated on several Ontario Association of Architects and Canadian Architectural Licensing Authorities committees, many associated industry profession’s awards juries and OAA Council. Bill was Chair of the Grand Valley Society of Architects, President of the OAA during terms in 2013 and 2014 and currently serves as Chair of the OAA Registration and Discipline Committees.

Bill Birdsell is a Fellow of the RAIC, and a member of the RAIC Ontario Southwest Regional Committee.

Kevin Stelzer is a licensed architect, Building Science Specialist, and Passive House Certified Designer; his work bridges design excellence and environmental performance across institutional, academic, and civic sectors. For over twenty-seven years, Kevin Stelzer has advanced architecture in Canada through exemplary leadership in sustainable design, technical innovation, and mentorship.

As Director of Sustainable Design at B+H Architects and later Founder of ENFORM Architects, Kevin shaped national standards in carbon-responsive architecture while mentoring emerging practitioners. His firm now leads zero-carbon and mass timber projects across Canada, extending sustainability from concept to construction.

Beyond practice, Kevin contributes nationally through the Canadian Green Building Council’s Energy & Engineering Advisory Group, the UN Sustainable Buildings and Climate Initiative Task Force, and the Waterfront Toronto Design Review Panel, and teaches Building Science at the University of Toronto and Toronto Metropolitan University exemplifying professional service aligned with the RAIC’s highest ideals.

Matthew Hickey is a Mohawk architect from Six Nations of the Grand River and a Partner at Two Row Architect. A member of the Haudenosaunee Wolf Clan, he grounds his work in Universal Inclusivity, regenerative design, and the responsibilities carried through First Nations, Métis, and Inuit knowledge systems. At Two Row Architect, Matthew leads culturally grounded, community-driven projects spanning architecture, landscape, urban design, and public art. His portfolio includes cultural and civic buildings, housing, educational facilities, and public realm initiatives, each shaped through meaningful engagement that positions Indigenous communities as rights-holders and authors of their own built environments. Matthew serves on the Board of the Art Gallery of Ontario and sits on the Waterfront Toronto Design Review Panel, bringing an Indigenous perspective to cultural governance and urban development. Matthew brought strategic cultural direction to the design process for the Miziwee Biik Training facility and the residential components of the Hub with BDP Quadrangle and The Indigenous Community Health Centre with Stantec Architecture.

Michael Leckman has demonstrated distinguished leadership in advancing the quality, sustainability, and civic purpose of architecture in Canada. As a Principal at Diamond Schmitt, he has shaped a body of work defined by design excellence, environmental innovation, and civic engagement. His projects — including the York University Student Centre, recipient of a Governor General’s Award of Merit in Architecture; the Bahen Centre at the University of Toronto; the Algonquin Centre for Construction Excellence; the Centre for Green Cities at Evergreen Brick Works; and Manitou a bi Bii daziigae at RRC Polytech, the first Canadian building to feature a custom photovoltaic rainscreen — exemplify architecture’s capacity to inspire and transform communities.

Michael’s current leadership on the Art Gallery of Ontario’s Dani Reiss Modern and Contemporary Gallery and the revitalization of the New Brunswick Museum continues to advance a forward-looking vision for cultural and institutional architecture. Beyond his professional achievements, his influence extends through mentorship, teaching, and nineteen years of service on Toronto’s Design Review Panel. His career reflects an enduring commitment to design integrity, technical excellence, and the public realm — qualities that have profoundly shaped Canada’s architectural landscape and make him a most deserving candidate for Fellowship in the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada.

Olivia Keung, B.E.S., M.Arch., OAA, MRAIC, CPHD, is an architect and sustainability leader whose work bridges technical innovation and civic responsibility. Raised between Toronto and Hong Kong, she brings a global and inclusive perspective to design that integrates environmental performance with social purpose. As Director of Sustainability at Moriyama Teshima Architects, she has advanced projects such as Limberlost Place at George Brown College—Canada’s first tall mass-timber, zero-carbon academic building—and Science North’s Northwest Expansion, two new science centres in Northern Ontario that combine Indigenous knowledge, science, and education to foster community resilience and reconciliation. 

Beyond practice, Olivia serves as Sustainability Advisor to the City of Toronto’s Design Review Panel and has contributed to the evolution of the Toronto Green Standards and Waterfront Toronto’s Green Building Requirements Version 3, shaping policy frameworks that define current best practice in sustainable urbanism. Nationally, she was the past Co-Chair for the RAIC Promoting Equity and Justice Working Group, serving as liaison to the Committee on Regenerative Environments, advancing conversations that link climate action and environmental justice. A frequent lecturer and mentor with the RAIC, the Toronto Society of Architects, the University of Toronto, and OCAD University, she is recognized for her clarity, generosity, and leadership. 

Olivia’s reflective practice—articulated in forums such as RAIC Catalyst for Change—underscores her belief in collective responsibility and the transformative potential of architecture. Her career exemplifies the ideals of the RAIC through professional excellence, social engagement, and environmental stewardship.

Shane Laptiste’s practice, teaching, and advocacy have advanced architecture grounded in equity, cultural narrative, and the empowerment of underrepresented communities. Synthesizing cultural research and a narrative-based, community-informed approach to design, the projects in his portfolio become catalysts for meaning, belonging, joy, and systemic change. 

Since co-founding the Studio of Contemporary Architecture (SOCA) in 2018, Shane’s leadership has garnered the firm the RAIC Emerging Architectural Practice Award (2023) and the Canada Council for the Arts Professional Prix de Rome in Architecture (2023), supporting transnational research on sites of community, climate, and housing justice through a Black diasporic lens. That same year, SOCA was one of Canada’s representatives at the Venice Biennale of Architecture. 

As one of the few Black students at architecture school, Shane encountered an invisibility of Black agency in the shaping of space, both historically and into the present. Over the two decades since, Shane has promoted representation, mentorship, and capacity-building for Black practitioners across Canada through his role as co-founder and treasurer of the Black Architects and Interior Designers Association (BAIDA). 

A licensed architect in Ontario and Quebec, Shane has contributed to professional governance as a Director of the Canadian Architectural Certification Board and to education as a studio instructor at McGill University and the University of Toronto. In his pedagogy, as in his practice, he foregrounds the histories, cultures, and spatial narratives of overlooked communities as a method to enrich architectural outcomes for all.

Valerie Gow is the co-founder of Gow Hastings Architects, a practice specializing in design for education. Over the course of her career, Valerie has contributed to more than 500 projects, including work for institutions such as the University of Toronto, York University, Western University, and the University of Waterloo. Her work focuses on creating learning environments that respond to the changing needs of students and educators, with an emphasis on thoughtful, flexible, and engaging spaces.

Beyond her architectural work, Valerie is also committed to supporting women and emerging professionals in architecture. She mentors intern architects and thesis students, serves on the BEAT Advisory Committee, and has participated in leadership seminars for women at Toronto Metropolitan University and the University of Toronto. She is a regular critic at architecture and design schools and serves as a jury member for design and product competitions.

Her contributions to the profession have been recognized through honours including the TMU G. Raymond Chang Outstanding Volunteer Award and the University of Toronto Arbor Award. In 2016, she was named a Fellow of the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada in recognition of her service to the profession. In 2024, she received the King Charles III Coronation Medal for her contributions to Canadian architecture.

Valerie is a founding member of the Harbourfront Architecture Gallery Advisory Committee, serves on the TMU School of Interior Design Program Advisory Board, and is Co-Chair of the RAIC Southwestern Ontario Region College of Fellows.