Thom transformed a failing shopping mall into a lively university campus at Central
City / SFU Surrey
Though the celebrated Vancouver architect now focuses on large public projects , he started his career designing homes . His very first project , a kitchen for friends , taught him he needed to spend much time talking to the couple , and making sure they talked to each other . In other words , “ The problem may be a marriage problem , not a house problem .” He still designs the occasional home — “ If I like the people ,” he says , grinning mischievously — because he loves the way a home touches people ’ s lives . “ I still get phone calls from people who say , ‘ You ’ ve changed my life . Every morning I get up , and I see the world differently through your architecture ,’” he says . “ That gives me more nourishment than any award .”
His firm , Bing Thom Architects , works on challenging public projects such as the Chan Centre for the Performing Arts in Vancouver . The lobby ’ s sweeping windows embrace the green space of the surrounding University of British Columbia campus . Most importantly , Thom achieved his difficult goal for the concert hall : “ It ’ s like being inside a musical instrument ,” he says . “ The hall itself reverberates the sound .”
Another noted project is the Guildford Aquatic Centre in Surrey . “ It ’ s designed so that you don ’ t have any views out until you ’ re swimming ,” he says . “ The windows are all at the bottom .” Dear to Thom ’ s heart is also the Surrey City Centre Library , with its abundance of natural light and sense of bringing people together : “ People fall in love in the library .” Thom is especially proud of Central City / SFU Surrey : “ It was a dying shopping centre , and now it ’ s a thriving city centre for Surrey .” He convinced the stakeholders to change their original plan to build the new Simon Fraser University campus in Cloverdale , which has minimal public transit , and instead choose a site near the Surrey Central SkyTrain Station . Now three-quarters of SFU students arrive by bus and train — a green effect Thom acknowledges goes far beyond any sustainability features he could design into the building .
Sustainable design , Thom says , is “ a very popular phrase right now ,” but the real problem is “ we ’ re getting lazier .” He points out our reluctance to put on a sweater or switch off the lights when leaving a room . Thom worries , too , about unintended consequences : “ Sometimes we can have what we think is a sustainable building , and win all the sustainability awards , but maybe the building is making people sick . We ’ re sealing the building , to conserve energy , but then we ’ re recycling waste air , and we ’ re not taking out the toxins .” Then he describes an issue unique to Vancouver : “ To conserve energy , we ’ re reducing the amount of windows we have .” He says , “ For our kind of climate , we may be creating more emotional problems with older people not getting enough light in the winter .” Complicated , to be sure , but that ’ s part of what keeps Thom ’ s work interesting .
At age 75 , after winning countless architecture awards and even the Order of Canada , Thom could rest on his laurels , but one thing keeps him going . “ Working with younger people ,” he says . “ Being able to share what I ’ ve learned with others .”
PHOTOS : NIC LEHOUX
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