Gow Hastings Architects

Founded in 2002 by Valerie Gow and Philip Hastings, the Toronto-based firm has designed over 350 teaching and learning spaces for institutions across Ontario.

In the late 2000s, the firm was considered the “village” architect for Humber College, where it completed over thirty projects that cemented its reputation in educational design.

[7] To engage passersby and encourage enrolment in the culinary program, both buildings feature a glass wall that reveals the chefs and teaching kitchens to the street.

[10] As Humber College's "village architect" from 2009 to 2010, Gow Hastings created numerous hands-on learning environments that closely replicate professional working scenarios.

[3] For example, the Centre for Trades and Technology (2009) includes two full-scale townhouses where students can practice woodworking, welding, plumbing, and electrical work.

[16] One of the firm's several projects completed for Ryerson University, the Student ServiceHub renovated a 1,250 square metres (13,500 sq ft) Brutalist-era cafeteria into a Registrar's Office.

[19] In 2018, Gow Hastings completed the Odeyto Indigenous Centre, a multi-purpose facility for First Peoples at Seneca College in Toronto, in collaboration with Two Row Architects.

[25] The project included cladding the imposing brutalist institution with yellow and white-coloured folded aluminum panels and adding extensive glazing to draw natural light indoors.