Our Story
Crafting Timeless Spaces for Tomorrow's World
We started Glaive Chronos back in 2012 with a pretty straightforward mission – create buildings that don't just look good today but actually make sense for the next hundred years. Sounds ambitious, right? Well, we've never been the type to think small.
Based in Toronto's historic King West neighborhood, we've built our practice around two things that might seem at odds but really aren't: cutting-edge sustainable design and preserving the architectural gems we've inherited. There's something deeply satisfying about breathing new life into a century-old building while making it work for modern needs.
Our team's grown from three architects sketching ideas over coffee to a full-service firm with 24 talented folks who genuinely care about what we're building. We've tackled everything from adaptive reuse projects in the Distillery District to ground-up commercial developments that push green building standards.
What sets us apart? We don't do cookie-cutter. Every project gets the same obsessive attention whether it's a single-family home or a mixed-use tower. Plus, we actually return emails – you'd be surprised how rare that is in this business.
What drives us every single day
We're not just checking boxes for LEED certification. Every material choice, every system we spec – it's gotta make environmental sense. Climate change isn't waiting, and neither are we.
Old buildings tell stories. We listen to them. There's craftsmanship in heritage structures that you just can't replicate, and we're committed to preserving that character while making spaces livable for today.
Buildings are for people, not Instagram. We design spaces that feel right, flow naturally, and genuinely improve how folks live and work. Function and beauty aren't opposites – they're partners.
The folks who got this whole thing rolling
Principal Architect & Co-Founder
Margaret's the one who keeps us honest about sustainability. With her Master's from UBC focused on green building systems, she's basically a walking encyclopedia of passive design strategies. Before launching Glaive Chronos, she spent six years at a major Toronto firm where she got tired of compromising on environmental principles.
She's also weirdly good at explaining complex building science stuff to clients without making their eyes glaze over. On weekends, you'll find her cycling around the city, documenting heritage buildings that need love.
Principal Architect & Co-Founder
David's passion is heritage work – the guy literally gets excited about original brick patterns and hand-carved cornices. His thesis at Waterloo focused on adaptive reuse in post-industrial cities, which is perfect timing since Toronto's got plenty of old buildings waiting for their second act.
He's meticulous to a fault (in the best way) and has this knack for seeing potential in buildings everyone else wants to demolish. His personal collection of vintage architectural drawings is honestly impressive, if a bit nerdy.
How we got here, one project at a time
Margaret and David officially launched Glaive Chronos with a tiny office above a café on Queen West. First project was a residential renovation in Leslieville – nothing fancy, but the homeowners trusted us and we didn't screw it up. That referral network started here.
Landed our first major heritage restoration – a 1920s bank building conversion in Cabbagetown. The approval process was brutal (city heritage committees don't mess around), but we pulled it off. This project put us on the map for adaptive reuse work.
Moved to our current King West location and hired our first four employees. Finally had enough work that we couldn't handle everything ourselves. Brought on Sarah as our lead project manager – best decision we ever made.
Completed our first LEED Platinum commercial building – a mixed-use development in Liberty Village. This one was personal; we pushed for net-zero ready design when the client was initially skeptical. Seeing those energy bills afterward made all those late-night energy modeling sessions worth it.
Won the Ontario Association of Architects Award for our work on the Distillery District adaptive reuse project. Honestly didn't expect it – there was some seriously good work nominated that year. The recognition opened doors for larger institutional projects.
Launched our urban planning and development consulting arm. We'd been doing site planning for years anyway, so formalizing it made sense. Now we're involved in neighborhood-scale projects, working with developers who actually care about community impact.
We're now a team of 24 working on projects across Ontario. Currently in design phases for three major heritage conversions and two ground-up sustainable developments. The work keeps evolving, but our commitment to thoughtful, responsible architecture hasn't changed since day one. We're just getting started.
We're always up for a conversation about your project – whether it's a big idea or just getting started.