Principal, Architecture
Inspirarqx | Kasian, Edmonton, Canada
Total years of experience :31 years, 2 Months
Reported to the President and CEO; Managed office and projects with 32 staff.
• Lead client management activities and exercises Principal-In-Charge functions on projects and initiatives.
• Lead Business Development Efforts of multiple sectors of the firm.
• Maintain final responsibility for full Profit and Loss responsibility for projects.
• Establish a positive work environment and culture in line with Kasian culture.
• Ensure that project delivery follows international “best practice” standards of the industry, complies with all corporate and divisional quality policies, meets contracted terms and conditions, and achieves the highest professional and quality standards.
• Lead and mentor senior staff, Associates and Interns.
• Liaison with Human Resources on staff resource levels, organizational structure, staff deployments, recruitment and selections and staff remuneration adjustments.
• Oversee design and detail, and establish environment to inspire and lead project teams in developing and maintaining consistently high standards of planning and design aesthetic across a varied portfolio of projects (Government Buildings, Public Assembly Spaces, Interior Design Projects, Institutional and Educational Projects, Commercial, Healthcare, etc).
• Analyze markets and develop credible operational and marketing strategies.
• Oversee the statutory and commercial frameworks on projects
• Analyze and interpret financial data, prepare and control budgets, and manage contracts and invoices.
Achievements include:
Provided outstanding leadership that ensured the successful delivery of the high profile, politically sensitive, multi-million dollar projects including the Government of Canada Immigration and Refugee Council Project; Aga Khan Pavilion project at the University of Alberta; Saving clients time and money for delivering project ahead of time and averting 12 weeks delay. Successfully led and managed several projects and multi-disciplinary teams of professional and technical staff (in the public and private sectors) In delivering projects and performing role as Principal, I successfully helped clients meet their stated objectives set at the onset of the project.
Generated over $2 million extra revenue for the firm from business development activities I led.
Planned projects - on time and on budget by entrenching good strategic planning practice, building support and enabling consensus building among diverse groups of stakeholders including aboriginal groups, community leagues, heritage groups, politicians and public servants.
Visiting Adjunct Reviewer - EVDS - Department of Architecture Comprehensive Studio:
1. Under the supervision of Comprehensive Design Studio Instructor, Professor Brian Sinclair, provided feedback and constructive critique of students architectural design project - incorporating knowledge of building systems.
2. Evaluating and assessing students work based on evaluation criteria defined for each design project type and category.
3. Demonstrated the ability to respond to and work with diverse and varied student populations and project types.
4. Delivered lecture / key note talk to students during benchmark design studio trip in Tokyo Japan (2017); Conducted site visits and architectural tour with commentary with students and faculty in Japan.
5. Conducted teaching, research and carried out analysis of architectural concepts for different architectural typologies with graduate students.
6. Supported comprehensive studio director to supervise students capstone projects.
7. Offered career development services to graduate student from the perspective of a practicing architect and senior official of the profession (Past President of Canada's National Architecture Institute).
Reported to the Regional Director General PTS: Managed 12 direct staff reporting to me and 54 staff in my unit (AECoE)
1. Manages the day-to-day operations of architecture and engineering services, construction, reviewing Request for Proposals & Statement of Works. Oversees all project activities - design; build; test and deployment activities, including business readiness, construction, system cut-over processes and post-production user support.
2. Manages, guides, develops and trains staff under his/her supervision; fosters teamwork and communication among staff in the project and across organizational boundaries. Chairs meetings, seminars, etc., on project-related issues; represents the department at external events including international, regional, inter-governmental meetings, seminars and conference; provides programmatic/ substantive expertise on various technical issues.
3. Manage, forecast and plan the financial resources for the unit and projects/programs; Manages contracts with construction contractors, service providers, system integration consultants and software vendors.
4. Oversees the management of activities undertaken by the project, ensuring that programmed activities are carried out in a timely fashion and co-ordinates work in the different areas both within the project and Department, and with internal and external stakeholders of the department, clients, donors and agencies as appropriate. Monitors project deliverables and timelines.
5. Contributes to AECoE's overall strategies and policies by participating in various committees, preparing documents on policy issues, and acting, as required, in an advisory capacity to the Regional Director General who reports to the Deputy
Minister. Co-ordinates and oversees the preparation of reports for presentation to senior management councils.
Achievements include:
1. Turned around an under-performing multi-million dollar regional unit by streamlining 4 business units into a coherent functional centre of expertise that's productive, profitable and enjoys confidence of clients. Addressed inconsistencies in quality of design by creating the Stewardship Excellence protocol - a principle based quality management tool used as a benchmark for quality.
2. As leader of Government of Canada's Architecture and Engineering Centre of Expertise (AECoE) in Western Region, the unit saw improvement in performance when I championed the development of a simple, user-friendly, robust and intelligent project tracking system. This saved time and money by reducing the amount of time staff spend in tracking and reporting progress to management -Business decisions can now be supported using reliable reports (with improved data integrity) generated in real time.
3. Successfully championed a National Bulk Gas Purchase Initiative for the Government of Canada. This initiative is quite complex, involves several Government Departments and stakeholders and require building consensus and tackling of difficult matters.
4. Successfully developed and championed the implementation of a new proposed "Stewardship Excellence Policy and Protocol" for the Real Property Branch of Government of Canada. This protocol ensures projects and programs from my unit are technically competent, innovative, functionally appropriate, sustainable, universally accessible, economically viable and inspiring. I was instrumental in successfully communicating this technical subject to the executive management team and policy makers for approval and implementation.
5. Successfully provided strategic advice to our executive management team on various professional, technical and quality management issues such as Building Information Modeling (BIM) and I participated in various committees to tackle difficult technical issues as well as to ensure processes are streamlined.
9. Delivered on high profile projects such as the Canadian High Arctic Research station valued at over $170 million.
Visiting Lecturer role in the Department of Architecture:
1. Under the supervision of the Head of the department of Architecture, I demonstrated the ability to respond to and work with diverse and varied student populations; support the mission of Durban University of Technology; and meet all teaching expectations, as outlined by the Head of Department.
2. Conducted teaching, research and carrying out analysis of architectural concepts and programs in the area of indigenous and vernacular architecture with students.
3. Contributed and supported HOD to supervise select B.Tech undergraduate students within the department.
4. Successfully contributed to area of knowledge with scanty resources and research by conducting in-depth study of elements of African rural vernacular architecture and its impact on human settlement.
5. Delivered University wide Keynote lectures from 1998, 2010 and 2014 on various scholarly architectural topics.
Reported to the Managing Principal: Directly managed a team of 6 professional staff (Architects and designers)
As Associate, led the day-to-day management and operations of Projects.
Responsible for client relationship management, urban and community planning projects and creating strategies / design concepts that meets clients' requirements.
Managed, guided, developed and trained staff under my supervision; fostered teamwork and communication among staff on projects and across organizational boundaries.
Regularly chaired meetings, seminars, research initiatives and provide leadership to the development of innovative change management programmes to ensure organizational readiness.
Actively involved in ideas generation and business development with passion for solving big challenges in urban and community projects.
Responsible for budgeting, financial forecasts and planning, expenditure control, and development of risk mitigation measures to support clients' growth and development.
Achievements include:
1. Transformed the Business Development (BD) portfolio of the firm into a top-performer - Leading the team to win projects valued at hundreds of millions of dollars - including the Edmonton Federal Building; Alberta Legislature Redevelopment Project, Palisades Stewardship Education Centre, etc. generating new projects and commission valued at over $875 million and increasing the profit margin of the firm in period of just 2 years.
2. Ensured 100% of the time that all Kasian projects, programs and initiatives I am responsible for as well as operational,
analytical and advisory outputs and services to clients, including program / project publications and designs are of the
highest quality and reflect best practice at the time they are delivered.
3. Provided outstanding leadership that ensured the successful delivery of the high profile, politically sensitive, multi-million dollar Alberta Legislature Redevelopment Master Plan project - on time and on budget by entrenching good strategic planning practice, building support and enabling consensus building among diverse groups of stakeholders including aboriginal groups, community leagues, heritage groups, politicians and public servants.
4. Successfully led and managed several projects and multi-disciplinary teams of professional and technical staff (in the
public and private sectors) on multi-million dollar high profile government projects such as the Federal Building ($300+
million) and the Legislature Centre Redevelopment Projects (multi-year, multi-billion dollars project / program).
5. In delivering projects and performing role as Senior Architect and Associate Partner, I successfully managed the financial resources for the project (multi-million dollars) and successfully led a robust multidisciplinary teams of architects, engineers and technical staff.
Reported to the Managing Director; Managed a team of 5 professional staff.
1. Management of professional architectural services; leading and coordinating the activities of staff and multidisciplinary
project teams in a business oriented environment;
2. Provide strategic leadership in completing work plans, programs and performance reviews.
3. Coordinate community outreach and consultation to ensure successful delivery of programs.
delivery of programs.
Summary of Achievements:
1. Worked successfully on international public infrastructure projects like the California Orange County Transit Authority rail project.
2. Managed and led the successful delivery of the significant, $120-million Red Deer Civic Yard project in a creative innovative and inspiring manner. As the project architect, I led the community consultations that resulted in building support and consensus among diverse groups of stakeholders for the project including environmental groups, community leagues, animal rights groups, politicians and public servants.
3. As IBI's Project Architect and Lead Designer on a $51 million new construction for covenant Health, I successfully led a multidisciplinary team of architects and Engineers to deliver this new construction located at the Misericordia Hospital in Edmonton on time, on scope and on budget.
4. As IBI's Project Architect and Lead Designer, I managed and led a multidisciplinary team of architects and Engineers to deliver the $115 million new construction for the City of Red Deer.
5. Successfully championed numerous community development projects and outreach programs.
Reported to the Managing Director and CEO; Managed a team of 15 staff including architects, engineers and clerk of works.
1. Perform the duties of an architect in designing, managing and administering housing and architectural projects to meet
client objectives. Responsibilities include design, preparation of working drawings, detailing and project management,
commissioning, project debriefing and post-construction services.
2. As Resident Architect, coordinate design and construction teams and responsible for the day to day operations of the
branch office of the firm.
3. Coordinates the activities of the firm with local and authorities having jurisdiction to deliver housing programs that meets regulations and building codes.
4. Responsible for coordinating the activities of the design team and specialists in order to ensure program and project is
delivered on time, on budget and on scope.
5. Responsible for budgeting, financial forecasts and planning, expenditure control, and development of risk mitigation
measures.
6. Community outreach and consultation
Summary of Achievements:
1. As resident architect for FMA Architects Pty Ltd. - Southern Africa, I successfully created, advanced and implemented the planning, design development, preparation of working drawings and detailed specifications that ensured the successful delivery of the Maun Community Hospital project - a $90 million (approx.), 300-bed hospital equipped with mechanically assisted passive cooling system (Fabric Energy System \[F.E.S.\] building).
2. As FMA Architects Pty Ltd., Southern Africa's resident architect, I successfully delivered the International Law Enforcement Academy Project - A joint United States of America and Botswana government law enforcement training facility in Otse - Southern Africa, in 2002 and contributing immensely to international development efforts of both governments of the USA and Botswana.
3. Successfully delivered housing projects and training facilities like the Botswana Police College where I was responsible for the design, site planning, preparation of working drawings, commissioning, and project management on the $12 million Project.
4. Successfully delivered the Gaborone City Council Clinic / Maternity Clinic / Primary School / Community Hall projects for the benefit of low income communities in Gaborone.
5. Successfully delivered the Voluntary AIDS Counselling & Testing Centre Project - A community project funded by the USA Government's Centre for Disease Control and the United States government office of Defense Cooperation (United States Embassy).
Reported to the Design Director:
Oversaw projects from inception through to completion.
Managed project team, mentor junior achitects
Took full control of hospitality, residential and commercial projects.
Led concept designs with strong technical competencies throughout all design phases.
Demonstrated strong passion for Architecture with excellent communication skills.
Led functional programming, master planning and project brief development.
Site coordination.
Contract administration
Architectural Designs
Achievements:
Successfully worked with team in delivering the refurbishment of the Federal Palace Hotel project in Victoria Island.
Introduced and facilitated the adoption of AutoCAD as a new project tool to help deliver project in DESACOM.
Duties of a Technical Drawing and Drafting Instructor to an average Class of 20 students.
1. Conducts activities that contribute to climate where students are actively engaged in meaningful learning experiences in Technical Drawing Concepts.
2. Identify, select, and modify resources to meet the needs of the students taking into cognizance the varying backgrounds, learning styles, and special needs of the students.
3. Maintains effective and efficient record keeping procedures.
4. Provides a positive environment in which students are encouraged to be actively engaged in the learning process.
5. Communicates effectively, both orally and in writing, with students, parents, and other professionals on a regular basis.
6. Demonstrates gains in student performance in Technical Drawings.
7. Meets professional obligations through efficient work habits such as: meeting deadlines, honouring schedules, coordinating.
8. Performs other duties and responsibilities as assign by supervisor.
Achievements:
- Successfully tutored and prepared High School Technical Drawing students to enrol and take their GCE O' Level Examination.
Developed and improved syllabus for T/D for the school training curriculum.
Worked cooperatively with others to foster a very good working environment despite limited resources.
Promoted creativity in the way students went about meeting their study chores.
Master of Arts (MA) in Communication & Technology - with focus on Building as a Medium of Communication / Architectural Communication
Master of Science in Architecture; Certified by Canadian Architectural Certification Board (CACB)
Bachelor of Science in Architecture; Certified by CACB Bendel State University (Now Ambrose Alli University), Edo, Nigeria - Graduated with 3.61 GPA - Upper Second classification, 2-1 Honours