Marc Downing

An integral member of MJMA for nearly two decades, Marc’s keen design sensibility and technical expertise have been instrumental in the development of the studio’s specialty of multiuse campus and community facilities. Marc’s fundamental goal as an architect is to foster social and environmental interaction — family and leisure time, and the desire to linger within a space because it is comfortable, filled with natural light, and meaningfully connected to nature. His favourite buildings at MJMA have an essential modesty and clarity of form that open up possibilities for their use and enjoyment. Highlights from his portfolio include the King Township Wide Recreation Centre, a community complex that is the first facility in Canada that combines aquatics and ice amenities to achieve Zero Carbon Building Design Certification from the CaGBC. Its design provides transparency and continuity between interior programs and between indoors and out, to encourage social connections and the exploration of its landscape setting. Another project, the Robert Crown Community Center, also intimately integrates interior and park amenities while bringing together competitive, recreational, and community programming.

Marc graduated from the University of Waterloo School of Architecture in 1996 and worked at a number of Toronto-based studios before joining MJMA in 2005. He has produced work that overlaps architecture and environmental art, including a project using subterranean sound for the Venice Biennale. A gifted mentor, Marc has served as adjunct faculty at the University of Waterloo and was assistant professor for ten years at OCAD University. He has been a guest critic at a number of institutions, including the Universities of Waterloo and Toronto, Dalhousie and Laurier Universities, and Boston College. Among the many papers he has presented at professional meetings is a talk examining architecture and skating as a cultural act at the conference for the International Association for Sports and Leisure Facilities (IAKS). A multi-instrumentalist, Marc has an affinity for spaces that inspire people to gather and interact in creative and spontaneous ways. He also volunteers as the chair of a non-profit organization seeking to preserve the environmentally sensitive Nottawasaga River embankment in central Ontario.