Leland Dadson
Senior Associate, Mass Timber Specialist | OAA AIBC CPHD
Leland has devoted his career of 20 years to sustainable practice and the beneficial uses of carbon-sequestering mass timber. With expertise that enables him to devise innovative design solutions and solve complex problems, he creates superior environments that improve their occupants’ health, comfort, and well-being. Leland’s passion for sustainable design and construction is evident in many of MJMA’s community and campus buildings, and his expertise has informed all of our mass timber projects. With the belief that restraint breeds innovation, he enjoys the challenges posed by large multiuse facilities that demand clear and logical design ideas.
Leland has played a key role on a number of our projects, including the Academic Wood Tower at the University of Toronto, one of Canada’s first tall mass timber buildings, and the JDUC Revitalization at Queen’s University, which explores the acoustic properties of dowel-laminated timber within a student agora space to achieve a sense of calm and wellbeing. He has also been instrumental in expanding MJMA’s presence in Western Canada, working on projects like the Vancouver Aquatic Centre — a renewal of a prominent recreational and competition facility at the mouth of English Bay.
Leland earned a Bachelor of Science at the University of British Columbia, followed by a Bachelor of Environmental Studies and a Master of Architecture from the University of Waterloo. Prior to joining MJMA in 2011, he worked freelance and at firms in Toronto. He is a Certified Passive House Designer andhas been an associate professor at the University of Waterloo. A frequent speaker on mass timber and sustainable design, he has presented at the Façades+ Conference and the Façade Tectonics World Congress. Leland’s childhood on an off-grid island in British Columbia gave him an appreciation for well-crafted materials and insight into the worlds of wooded landscapes and the forest industries. He continues to visit the island with his family and still undertakes millwork projects in its workshop
