The Ontario Association of Architects has announced the conferring of the prestigious G. Randy Roberts Service Award on Dr.Ian Ellingham, a member of the Quartek team. “The G. Randy Roberts Award is given to individuals who exemplify care, compassion, integrity, enthusiasm, and a sense of humour in their service to the membership”.
Dr. Ellingham has spent the majority of his architectural career as a non-traditional practitioner, working behind the scenes as a developer and development consultant, with an emphasis on research and academics. An accomplished writer and author, his research focuses on decision-making in the built environment, as well as studying human responses to buildings and urban spaces. His published works include the books New Generation Whole-Life Costing (2006), Whole Life Sustainability (2013), 100+25 Years: OAA Perspectives on a Quarter Century (2014), and Understanding Ugly: Human Response to Buildings in the Environment (2020), as well as numerous articles in academic and industry journals.
“Research is always the way we uncover new ways of doing things and how we move the profession into the future,” he explains. “Education doesn’t end when you pick up your degree or your licence. There’s always another challenge. You’re always learning something. Architecture is a constant learning process. This is actually one of the delightful parts of architecture—it’s one of the reasons why people stay in it forever.”
Dr. Ellingham holds a Bachelor of Architecture from Carleton University and an MBA from the University of Western Ontario (now Western University). He later attended the University of Cambridge, earning a Master of Philosophy in Land Economy and a PhD from the Martin Centre for Architectural and Urban Studies. He has played a crucial role in mentoring doctoral students in land economy at the University of Cambridge and is affiliated with the Cambridge Architectural Research. He is a Fellow of the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada.