Ultharen Quinthal
Principal Architect & Founder
M.Arch, AIBC, LEED AP BD+C
Our studio space on West Georgia Street
Studio Location:
1247 West Georgia Street, Suite 810
Vancouver, BC V6E 4E1
Get in Touch:
(604) 555-7892
studio@ultharenquinthal.info
How We Got Here
Look, I'll be straight with you - starting this practice wasn't some grand master plan. After spending way too many years at firms that treated sustainability like a marketing checkbox, I just couldn't do it anymore. Buildings should work WITH the environment, not against it, y'know?
2008 - The Beginning
Started the studio right when the economy decided to tank. Great timing, right? But that actually forced us to be creative - we couldn't rely on big budgets, so we learned to design smarter instead of bigger. Turned out to be the best lesson we never asked for.
2012 - First Big Break
Landed a residential project in West Van where the clients actually WANTED passive solar design and natural ventilation. Finally! That house ended up winning some recognition and opened doors we didn't even know existed. Word spreads fast when you deliver something that actually performs.
2015 - Growing Pains
Moved into our current studio and brought on three junior architects. Teaching others your approach is harder than you'd think - it's one thing to have intuition about site orientation and material choices, another to explain WHY you feel that way. Made us sharpen our methodology big time.
2018 - Commercial Crossover
Got our first commercial project - a boutique office building in Gastown. Suddenly we're dealing with different building codes, more stakeholders, tighter timelines. But the fundamentals don't change: orientation, daylighting, natural materials, efficient systems. Scale up the complexity, keep the principles intact.
2021 - Pandemic Pivot
COVID hit and suddenly everyone cared about air quality and outdoor connections - stuff we'd been pushing for years. Demand for our approach went through the roof. Also realized we could consult remotely way more than we thought, which opened up projects across BC.
2024 - Where We're At
Team of eight now, projects ranging from single-family homes to mixed-use developments. Still learning, still making mistakes, still figuring out how to do this better. That's kinda the point though - the day you think you've got it all figured out is the day you stop improving.
What Actually Drives Us
Buildings Should Be Honest
There's this trend where architects hide all the "ugly" functional stuff - mechanical systems, structural elements, drainage. But those ARE the building. We'd rather celebrate how things actually work instead of covering them up with some fake facade. Show the timber structure. Let people see the rainwater collection. Make the solar panels part of the composition, not an afterthought.
Site First, Always
We spend an almost ridiculous amount of time studying sites before we draw a single line. Sun patterns through the seasons, prevailing winds, existing vegetation, soil conditions, how water moves across the land. Some clients think we're stalling, but those early weeks save months of headaches later. The site tells you what it wants to be - you just gotta listen.
Material Matters
We're kinda obsessed with where materials come from and where they'll end up. Local timber over imported stone. Reclaimed brick over new vinyl. Stuff that ages gracefully instead of just deteriorating. Yeah, it sometimes costs more upfront, but when you factor in longevity and maintenance... plus it just FEELS different when you're in a space made of real materials, y'know?
People Actually Use These Spaces
Here's a secret: we visit our finished projects. Not for the photo shoot, but like a year later when people have actually been living or working there. You learn SO much from seeing what works and what doesn't. That awkward corner nobody uses? That window placement that creates the perfect reading nook? That's the feedback loop that makes the next project better.
Efficiency Without Sacrifice
Sustainable doesn't mean uncomfortable or ugly. That's a cop-out. Our buildings use way less energy than code requires, but they're also spaces people genuinely love being in. Natural light, comfortable temperatures year-round, good acoustics, fresh air. High performance AND high quality of life - that's the whole point.
The Team Approach
We're not one of those studios where the principal designs everything and junior staff just draw it up. Everyone here contributes ideas, challenges assumptions, brings their own perspective. Some of our best solutions came from first-year architects asking "why do we do it that way?" when there wasn't actually a good answer.
Yeah, final decisions run through me - somebody's gotta take responsibility - but it's a collaborative process. Architecture's too complex for any one person to know everything. The structural engineer might spot a thermal bridge issue. The contractor might suggest a better sequencing. The client definitely knows how they actually live. Good design comes from listening to all of that.
What's Next?
Honestly? We're exploring mass timber construction for mid-rise buildings - way more carbon-efficient than concrete and steel. Also getting into adaptive reuse - there's something satisfying about giving old buildings new life instead of tearing them down. And we're starting to consult on urban planning projects, trying to bring this same thinking to neighborhood scale.
But mostly we're just trying to keep getting better at this. Each project teaches us something. Each mistake (and yeah, we make 'em) shows us what to avoid next time. That's the gig.