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On August 15th, acclaimed Toronto architect Brian Curtner passed away from cancer at the age of 64. A founding partner and principal of Quadrangle Architects for 29 years, Curtner helped build one of the city's most prominent architectural firms. Combining design excellence with strong business acumen, Brian's innovative work now inflects the streetscapes of Toronto and beyond.
In the months following Brian's death, UrbanToronto has conducted interviews with some of Brian's business associates and partners, helping us better understand the scope of Brian's architectural and personal legacy.
"I got to know Brian through laughter," Quadrangle's Les Klein begins, recounting the early days of a decades-long friendship and architectural partnership. "We both worked for different companies at the the time, but once in a while we competed for the same project," Klein continues, "so eventually all of us decided to get together for a drink. Soon enough, we started going to a seafood restaurant, and every time we'd be making these ridiculous, silly puns. We're here just for the halibut, or you're just fishing for compliments."
In his professional life, Brian Curtner's work ethic and impeccably high standards translated into a successful and prominent architectural career. Together with Klein, Brian co-founded Quadrangle Architects in 1986, which has developed an international reputation for sensitive and intelligent design.
A graduate of the Architectural Association School of Architecture in London, Brian was elected to both the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada and the Simcoe Chapter of Lambda Alpha International, while also serving as an active member of numerous professional associations.
"Brian was one of those rare people who passed the 'stuck in Cleveland' test," Jon Love—CEO of Kingsett Capital—remembers. "Not that we were ever stuck at the Cleveland airport together, but if you had to be stuck there with somebody, it would be Brian. What began as a working relationship," Love continues, "became a very trusted partnership."
Amongst the work Brian did for KingSett was 130 Bloor Street West in Yorkville, a condominium development built on top of an existing modernist office tower, which won an Innovation in Architecture award from the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada.
"He was so full of energy and passion," Great Gulf's Alan Vihant tells us, "with an incredible number of interests and hobbies. He was an avid art collector, a wine lover, an incredible golfer, and an amazing skier and sailor. He was even a race-car driver," Vihant shares, "and he had an infectious charm. He even got me to join the yacht club, and to go skiing and golfing, though he never managed to get me behind the wheel of a race-car!"
Possessing strong work ethic combined with passion, aesthetic vision, natural business acumen, and an innate ability to build long-term relationships, Brian was instrumental in building a firm that now boasts a portfolio of award-winning projects throughout Toronto and around the world.
"Years ago, Brian and I would occasionally play squash, and when he first introduced me to the sport, he would absolutely destroy me on the court," Klein recounts. "He gave up the sport soon after, but I kept playing regularly for the next 10 years. Then, one day he said, 'it's been a while, how about we go for a game of squash?' He hadn't played in a decade, and he still gave me a serious run for my money. I said to him afterwards, 'Brian, is there anything you're not world-class in?'"
President of both the Toronto Boulevard Club and the Mansfield Ski Club, Brian's many talents and passions extended from his career and family to the world of sport. "He even got me to go golfing once," Klein admits, "and I am staunchly, vehemently anti-golf. And it was frustrating, because he was basically a scratch golfer."
"Don't get me wrong, he could also be stubborn, and difficult to work with" Klein adds, "but he had such an endearing charm and charisma that made it very difficult to be upset with him. And he was strongly driven by a desire for excellence that was hard not to admire, and which carried through from architecture to all of his hobbies and interests," Klein tells us. "We spent years working side by side with only a four foot wall—and then a thin sheet of glass—separating us... and not a week goes by that I don't look over and half-expect to see him there."
Brian's ability to build relationships and understand the needs of clients was central to his success as an architect. Rather than adhering to a singular and iconically declarative style of architecture, Brian's sensitivity in accommodating both the needs of clients and the existing built form that precipitated many of his projects—which evidence a highly sophisticated understanding of design and built form—left behind a legacy of architectural flexibility and innovation that continues to form a central part of the Quadrangle ethos. "We don't have a style," Klein tells us, "we have style."
As a prominent architect, Curtner leaves behind a legacy embedded into the very spaces and streetscapes of the city, going beyond the innovative stacked condominiums at 130 Bloor West to: the playfully uninhibited interior of the Corus Entertainment Building on Toronto's Waterfront; the award-winning BMW showroom at the foot of the Don Valley Parkway that converted a vacant office building into an iconic six-storey glazed showroom; State Street Financial Centre, which saw the renovation and reinvention of a 1950s government building into a Class A office environment. Brian’s vision for the revitalization of the Yonge Sheppard Centre, one of Toronto’s largest mixed-use residential, office and retail developments, recently received planning approvals and is is now set to transform the North York landmark into a more vibrant and welcoming part of the streetscape . All of these projects represent Brian’s innovative solutions to complex urban challenges. He has also spearheaded the firm’s expansion internationally, and has undertaken projects in Dubai and China.
