Robert Allen

Robert brings intuitive people skills and methodical management to every initiative he leads. He is expert at shepherding projects with complex systems, multiple stakeholders, and large consulting teams while maintaining a shared architectural vision. In our studio, Rob’s assuring manner and easy sense of humour enable his team members to contribute the best of their talents. He remains inspired by MJMA’s core value of aiming to get the most out of any project — to make buildings that expand inclusivity, exceed existing sustainability standards, and surpass their communities’ expectations in inventive and socially beneficial ways. 

Rob’s portfolio is broad on the community and campus fronts equally. Highlights include pioneering multiuse facilities like the Innisfil Recreation Complex (Canada’s first LEED-certified aquatic sports complex) as well as the Wellesley Community Centre and Library and its eventual aquatics centre addition, the latter of which quickly became a much-loved community hub and paradigmatic catalyst for the revitalization of the underserved St. James Town neighbourhood in downtown Toronto. He oversaw our Long Bridge Park Aquatics and Fitness Centre in Arlington County, a design driven by inclusive programming that also creates everyday connections between a community and a surrounding setting laden with historical and environmental significance. Rob’s campus projects have often met the challenges of working within strong historical contexts. He led the expansion and renovation of the Ralph S. O’Connor Recreation and Wellness Center at Johns Hopkins University, a project where the building and landscape design at once enrich the traditional campus fabric and serve as a modern face at the university’s north gateway. He has seen this project as proof of MJMA’s ongoing commitment to creating buildings that help organize urban landscapes while providing programming that meets and exceeds the community’s expectations of what recreational, wellness, and social experiences can be.

Rob was an early specialist in sustainability and has led our studio’s development of new standards for the responsible design of recreational buildings. He has published in Sustainable Architecture and Building and has presented at national and international conferences, including Parks and Recreation Ontario, Athletic Business, and the Society for College and University Planning (SCUP).

Rob graduated from the University of Waterloo School of Architecture in 1987. He joined MJMA in 1992 and became a partner in 2009.