LGA Architectural Partners is an architecture firm founded in 1989 by Janna Levitt and Dean Goodman in Toronto, Canada. It is now also led by partners Brock James, Danny Bartman, and Alex Tedesco, with a team of 35 people, including architects and construction technicians who work across various building types: libraries, galleries, community centres, primary and secondary schools, post-secondary education buildings, and a range of residential projects, including homeless shelters, affordable multi-unit housing, and single-family homes.
At LGA Architectural Partners, the focus is on creating intelligent projects that strengthen community and well-being, and that respond in inspiring ways to some of the world’s most challenging issues. Their work ranges from details such as the optimal window height in a daycare to broader concerns like climate change. They are innovative not for the sake of being innovative, but because they strive to create spaces that meet the present and future needs of their clients in affordable and sustainable ways—often in ways no one thought possible.
They are also focused on applied research related to public housing. Their work includes collaborating with CMHC as the national project lead for the renewal of Canada’s National Housing Catalogue; with the TUF Lab at the University of Toronto, they launched ReHousing, a multi-year initiative to support the development of multiplex housing in single-family residential zones across Canada; together with SVN Architects, they co-authored the Mid-Rise Manual, a comprehensive guide to best practices for mid-rise buildings in Ontario; and LGA is leading an ongoing study on fire code reform, which proposes removing the requirement for a second stairwell in small multi-unit residential buildings in Canada.
The firm, which primarily works in the non-profit, public, and education sectors, has received numerous awards, including seven from the Ontario Association of Architects (OAA), eight Toronto Urban Design Awards, nine provincial and national WoodWORKS! awards, a RAIC Award of Excellence for Innovation in Architecture, and a Governor General’s Medal.
