THE STORY OF NORR IS ONE OF EVOLUTION AND ADAPTATION;
Yet is also one in which a fundamental belief in innovative design and strong execution has never wavered.
Now surpassing three-quarters of a century of practice, the firm has continuously reinvented itself to maintain its passion, vitality and contemporary approach to its craft. Yet it retains an undercurrent of maturity afforded it by years of experience.
NORR is, and has always been, a vehicle for learning and growth, with the pursuit of excellence as its guiding principle. Young professionals are exposed to a unique framework of methods, practices and team relationships that ensure quality and integrity while promoting self-expression.
Many thrive in this environment and develop their careers over the long term at NORR; others move on to capitalize on the knowledge gained during their time with the company.
Most often, these ex-employees establish lifelong relationships with NORR as collaborators or as clients.
Why? Because there is a very special culture operating within NORR that unites its people in a common purpose: the production of fine architecture, certainly, but also of creating physical environments that engage, inform and enrich the lives of the people that utilize them decades and decades after they are built.
A PROUD HERITAGE
The company that became the large and multi-dimensional practice that exists today was originally established by John Burnett Parkin in 1938.
After working in the U.K. following his graduation, he returned to Toronto filled with a passion to design in the Modernist style.
Parkin’s early commissions in educational architecture moved him away from the stereotypes of the previous era.
His single storey designs and extensive use of glass created a new model for Ontario schools in the 1950’s.
Indeed, Parkin was a great admirer of Albert Kahn and his European contemporaries, such as Le Corbusier and L. Mies Van der Rohe.
His firm’s application of Modernist design principles was instrumental in popularizing the movement in Canada and paved the way to broader acceptance of Modernism’s architectural rigour.
By the late 1950’s, John B. Parkin Associates had 180 staff and had become Canada’s best-known architectural practice. Commissions for many of the most significant modernist buildings constructed in Toronto and Montreal came to the firm fast, and easily, at this time.
In 1969, the practice undertook a merger with Smith Carter Searle from Winnipeg.
The firm became Parkin Architects Engineers Planners and established itself as a multi-disciplinary organization, a structure that received immediate acceptance from clients and enriched the process of architectural design immeasurably.
EVOLUTION OF THE PARTNERSHIP
In the early 1970’s, the founding partners left to pursue other interests and the firm was reorganized and renamed twice before being restructured as Neish, Owen, Rowland & Roy Architects Engineers.
A decade later with a group of talented new partners and a thriving practice, the company shortened its name to the acronym NORR.
Since that time, NORR has expanded its operations across Canada, into the United States and to specific international locations in order to satisfy its unrelenting desire to participate in the most significant projects of the day and to practice at the leading edge of its profession.
But John B. Parkin provided an even deeper legacy in his disciplined approach to achieving clarity and honesty of design. His insistence on strong management skills and the application of technology to his practice have had a profound impact on the evolution of the company.
Since its origins in the late 1930’s, NORR has evolved from a single personality-driven firm to a large, team-based organization.
No longer a sole proprietorship, NORR is an employee-owned company with staff that are rewarded by their collective long-term success. The company comprises a network of offices linked by robust technologies and strong personal associations that encourage communication and inclusive decision-making.
Today’s organization represents an association of peers who are progressively merging their diverse experiences, cultures and nationalities into a powerful new vehicle for professional practice—one that is prepared to undertake non-traditional roles to meet new challenges and, more importantly, one where users of buildings are put before the corporate ego.
Just as John B. Parkin established his firm on the ethos of design rigour and the synthesis of professional disciplines, NORR manages its practice today by means of these same core values. The company’s contemporary business model utilizes the tools of knowledge, innovation and collaboration in the quest to sustain this mantra as it continues to grow and evolve.
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Please visit the Projects section of our site for examples of our work over the years. For a focused look at a particular period, click one of the links below to see a selection of work from that time period.
