At the 2022 Annual General Meeting (AGM) in May, the Association honoured its newest Members of Long Standing—individuals who have reached the milestone of 50 years of membership with the OAA as part of Ontario’s architecture profession. Among the recipients this year was Louis Cooke.


Louis came to Canada in 1967 as a foreign trained architect after graduating from the Royal West of England Academy, School of Architecture, in Bristol, England in 1960 and became a registered architect with the RIBA in 1962. He arrived in Montreal and enjoyed a visit to Expo on his way into Ontario.


After settling in Canada for a year, he started out on the journey to become licensed with the OAA. Louis completed his Canadian internship and practice examinations and became licensed in 1972. He has enjoyed a challenging and satisfying career path here In Canada, it started in Ronald Murphy’s office in London, Ontario and two years later he joined Bell Canada in their Real Estate Dept. in Toronto. After working 23 years on Bell assignments all over Ontario, he set up his own practice in London, working on residential and medium-sized commercial projects—some in Michigan, where he also obtained his license.


In London, Louis managed to work in various positions with the London Society of Architects, he Chaired the RAIC Syllabus London Studio, as well as sat on OAA Council on two occasions and one term on the Pro-Demnity Board. He mentored two foreign trained architects from Columbia, both successfully became full members of the OAA. He is currently a Board Member of the Pro-Demnity Foundation for Architectural Research.
Louis would like to thank the OAA President, the Registrar, and Council for recognizing his many years of membership in the Association.