As an architect I have come across many different client types over years and yet it is with my work with BEAT that has brought my attention to the importance of why as architects we need to be as diverse as the clients. Every day I speak with other architects and designers yet it is at BEAT events where our barriers fall away and we are equals. Our conversations flow without bias and we connect as colleagues. We can see our interests, concerns and stories are not so different from each other despite never having met and despite our backgrounds and training. The BEAT platform has given our community this opportunity to showcase ourselves – our talents, our skills, our differences and our similarities – and most importantly, that design excellence is a result of it, not despite of it. This is why Building Equality in Architecture is important in our community as we strive for empathetic design and we are proud to be a national movement with chapters in Toronto, the Maritimes, Quebec, the Prairies and Vancouver. The wider our conversation, the more we fully acknowledge the faces that contribute to our built environment.

Persis Lam is an architect at Diamond Schmitt Architects and is an Executive Committee Member of BEAT, moderating BEAT Talks which are hosted at architectural firms across Toronto. She has represented the architectural community at Engineers Without Borders and Ontario Society of Professional Engineers.