Like many design studios, Office Ou started its practice with high social ideals. More remarkably, after four years practising in the fiercely competitive area of Toronto, it has managed to maintain and expand those ideals.

Founding principals Nicolas Koff, Uros Novakovic, and Sebastian Bartnicki met at the University of Waterloo School of Architecture. From the day they launched Office Ou in 2016, they knew they didn’t want to get trapped in cookie-cutter luxury houses or faux-heritage architecture. Instead, they strive for what Koff terms a “local, environmental vernacular.” They consider how a single project can promote biodiversity, water management, energy consumption, and ecological resilience. It is a long-term approach that requires research, experimentation, and a will to find new and better ways of thinking about the built landscape, both at the macro and micro.

The team’s ethos has compelled them to seek out new ideas, often looking far afield for ideas and concepts to bring back home. The polycultural backgrounds and life experiences of their team has helped in the practicalities of international research and relationship-building: Koff holds French as well as Canadian citizenship; Novakovic has lived in Prague and speaks Czech.

As they build their practice, very recently expanding from six members to nine, they continue to encourage the entire team to pursue independent research. It is an investment that they recognize will pay off in ways that can’t always be immediately measured. They continue to seek socially meaningful architectural challenges wherever they can, whether in their own backyard, or an ocean away.
Publish Date : 2020/Nov/17