People

Associates

Brian Ballantyne

Brian has 30 years of experience in the architectural profession and over 15 years with Adamson Associates. A skilled manager, Brian has served as the project manager on an extensive array of building types, in both Canada and abroad. Recent experience includes the MaRS College Wing and South Building in Toronto and a $70M Commercial Tower at Canary Wharf in London, England. Currently, he is working on the London Bridge Tower Development in London England with Renzo Piano Building Workshop.
David Ellis

David has worked in the architectural profession since 1968 and has a member of our team since 1983. At Adamson, David is frequently assigned as the Project Manager on projects requiring specialized facilities — transit stations, data centres, laboratories, and health and research facilities — where he can best use his analytic capabilities and significant experience in the field of building envelope design, testing and controlled inspection.
Dennis Tesar

Dennis has been a member of the firm since 1999 lending to our team his expertise in preparing architectural design and working drawings for residential, corporate, commercial and institutional buildings. Dennis has experience with all facets of the building process from conception to completion, including liaising with clients and contractors, budgetary and scheduling issues, detailing and material selection. He is highly skilled in CAD drafting and design and the creation of 3D models and has extensive experience with building envelopes including the resolution of complex geometrical and technical issues. Prior to emigrating to Canada, Dennis worked on a wide range of building types across Europe, ranging from residential houses to multi-storey structures. Dennis also conducted several award-winning studies in the former Czech Republic in the areas of reconstruction of regions devastated by heavy industrial activities, as well as Sociology in Architecture and Town Planning.
Domenic Virdo
Domenic Virdo has been with Adamson since 2000. He received his Bachelor of Technology in Architectural Science from Ryerson University and holds a Master of Architecture from Lawrence Technological University in Southfield, Michigan. Since joining our team, Domenic has gained extensive experience on a wide range of building types — institutional, commercial, cultural, and large mixed use developments. Domenic imparts to our team a skillful blend of design and technical skills. He has particular expertise in the design development of projects with complex program requirements, diverse client groups, and large, multi-disciplinary teams where his excellent communication skills and spirit of collaboration invariably lead to design solutions that exceed client expectations. Currently, Domenic is the Design Manager for the New Oakville Hospital.
Goran Rakocevic

Goran Rakocevic has been a member of the Adamson team since 1999. During his time with Adamson, he has been a project manager on several large-scale commercial office towers in New York and at Canary Wharf in London, England. A graduate of the University of Sarajevo, Goran has over 20 years of experience as an architect and designer on commercial, residential and transportation projects across North America, the United Kingdom and Eastern Europe. Goran has won several design competitions and honours including First Prize for the City Palace Hotel in Malta, First Prize for a new Town Plan for Srebrenica in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and First Prize for the Tanko Sedlo Resort in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Ken Lum
An accomplished designer, Ken Lum imparts to our team a critically acclaimed design sensibility combined with excellent technical skills and strong project management abilities. Ken received his Bachelor of Environmental Studies (Pre-Professional Architecture) and Master of Architecture from the University of Waterloo. After graduation, he was shortlisted as a finalist out of 1011 design professionals for his design of a September 11 memorial and masterplan, which was later featured in a short documentary produced by the CBC National.  Prior to joining our team, he worked for several renowned Toronto-based firms where he gained valuable experience on institutional, commercial, and cultural buildings. Since joining Adamson Associates Architects in 2007, Ken has contributed his design skills to a number of high-profile, international projects including the Isle of Dogs CrossRail Station in Canary Wharf and the twofour54 Media Zone in Abu Dhabi.
Maria Moreira-Smith

Maria has experience with a variety of project types including residential, civic, sports and recreation, and corporate office developments. Since starting with the firm in 2000, Maria has worked on large, high-profile projects in London and New York. Her years of experience in project management have provided her with the professional abilities required to seamlessly coordinate between the client, occupants and contractor. Recently, Maria led the Adamson team on the 1,200,000 sf Mandarin Oriental Hotel and Residences at CityCenter in Las Vegas, which included 227 condominium residences, a 48,000 sf Spa, seven dining and cocktail venues, and two pools (130’ in length combined).
Martin Dolan
Martin Dolan brings to our team significant award-winning design experience on a wide range of project types — cultural, commercial, residential and institutional projects. He joined Adamson in 2006. Prior to joining our team, Martin contributed his design skills to a number of Limited Competitions including the Bloor Viaduct Barrier Limited Competition; the University of Toronto at Mississauga Student Centre Competition; the Agnes Etherington Arts Centre Limited Competition at Queen’s University, Kingston; the Baltimore Performing Arts Centre Limited Competition, Maryland; the McMichael Art Gallery Limited Competition, Kleinburg; and the Rideau Hall Governor General Residence Limited Competition, Ottawa, ON. He has been the recipient of a National Design Exchange/Outside the Box Award for his design contribution to the Arts & Administration Building, University of Toronto at Scarborough, Toronto, ON and received a CEFPI Design Award for Greenwood College School in Toronto.
Richard Edwards

Richard is an Associate and the Controller at Adamson Associates Architects. An integral part of Adamson’s Management Team, Richard has primary responsibility for the financial and risk management of the firm’s international group of companies. As Financial Manager, he oversees the planning, budgeting, cost control, banking, project management, partnership transitions and international staff relocations for the firm’s offices in Los Angeles, New York, London, Abu Dhabi, and the head office in Toronto. As Risk Manager, Richard negotiates and manages insurance requirements for all offices including group benefits, professional indemnity, comprehensive general liability, worker’s compensation and travel insurance.
Robert Sula

Robert has been a member of the Adamson team since 2001. He has extensive experience in a variety of building types, continuously displaying leadership on large-scale development projects under extremely tight deadlines. Because of his strong management and problem-solving skills, Rob is often relied upon to manage large, programmatically complex projects.
Sandor Rott
Since joining the firm in 2003, Sandor Rott has been involved in master planning, development and construction of a number of significant projects locally and abroad. These projects have augmented his knowledge of urban regeneration issues, enabling him to respond to the demands of large-scale, multi-use projects requiring a magnitude of infrastructure coordination. Currently, Sandor is working on the Pelli Clarke Pelli-designed Transbay Transit Center in San Francisco, California, Sandor’s ability to work with, and enhance, existing urban contexts was gained in the master planning of several high-profile urban district projects around the world which have been recognized with numerous Urban Design and Architectural Awards. Prior to joining Adamson Associates, Sandor was the project manager for the Canadian Embassy in Prague, Czech Republic, which was a Finalist for the Czech Architecture Grand Prix 2003.
Scott Cressman

Scott has been part of Adamson’s design department since 1985. He has considerable experience in the design of commercial, corporate and institutional buildings. His responsibilities include overseeing the team through all the design phases beginning with the initial project discussions, schematic design, design development and up to, and including, issuing for construction. Other responsibilities include client consultation, coordination of consultants during design phase, obtaining approval from authorities with jurisdiction and assisting in the preparation of detailed specifications particularly with regard to material selection.
Ying-Min Shiao

Ying-Min has worked in the architectural field since 1975. As a member of the firm since 1979, he has been a senior designer for some of the firm's most prestigious buildings. His unique design sensibility and understanding of the specific technical requirements for commercial office developments has brought numerous awards to the firm.