231st Edition – Zak World of Façades Canada

This will be the 231st edition globally and the 4th edition in Toronto which will showcase sustainable innovations and challenges in the construction industry pertaining to the building envelope and will also display latest technological solutions.

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Speakers & Panelists
Will Elsworthy
Principal, Superkül
Andre D’Elia
Partner, Superkül
David Duvall
Research & Development Manager, H.B. Fuller
David Duvall is the Research & Development Manager for H.B. Fuller’s Glass team, where he focuses on innovation, product development, and advancing next-generation building solutions. Through his work in R&D, David collaborates with engineering, product management, and customer-facing teams to...
David De Rose
Managing Principal / Project Director, Synergy Partners
David de Rose has worked on 500+ projects over his 29-year career in building renewal and enclosure design. David takes the lessons learned in evaluating building enclosure performance issues in existing buildings and applies them to new building enclosures or...
Mary MacDonald
Senior Manager | Heritage Planning, Urban Design, City of Toronto
Shelley Ludman
Principal, ERA Architects
Shelley Ludman is a licensed architect and Principal at ERA who specializes in transforming existing buildings and vacant sites into vibrant place-making projects. Her creative pragmatism has helped clients create meaningful places for local gathering, renovate agricultural barns for event...
Brad Rodgers
Associate Vice-President , Development, Dream Development
Brad Rodgers, Associate Vice President, Development, leads Dream’s development activities in Ottawa, with a focus on advancing transformative projects that deliver long-term value for communities and stakeholders. Drawing on extensive construction and development experience, he provides strategic oversight for complex...
Fariz Dhalla
Associate - Building Envelope Specialist, Entuitive
Fariz Dhalla is a Professional Mechanical Engineer and Building Envelope Specialist at Entuitive, with a Master of Building Science from Toronto Metropolitan University (formerly Ryerson). His experience spans EPCM delivery, on-site construction coordination for landmark projects including the Ismaili Centre...
Emily Pepper
Sr. Structural Engineer, Heritage Structures Local Market Lead, WSP Canada
Emily Pepper is a Senior Structural Engineer and the Heritage Structures Local Market Lead for the GTA. She has professional experience in the adaptive reuse, restoration, and retrofit of historic structures, both locally and internationally, including extensive work during her...
Owen Coyle
President, IG Masonry Support Systems
Owen Coyle is a qualified Structural Engineer who graduated from Trinity College Dublin in 2009. Shortly after, he joined the family business, Keystone Lintels – the UK and Ireland’s largest manufacturer of steel lintels – as a Technical Engineer. His...
Juan Carlos Portuese
Partner | Architect | Design Lead, DIALOG
Juan Carlos Portuese is an award-winning architect and design leader with extensive experience delivering complex institutional projects across Canada, the United States, and internationally. His work spans healthcare, civic, academic, and community architecture, with a particular focus on high-performance building...
Brian Porter
Principal, Two Row Architect
Brian Porter, from Six Nations of the Grand River, is a business leader with years of experience designing and managing projects for First Nation communities across Canada and the U.S. He focuses on culturally appropriate designs and maximizing the use...
Dan McTavish
Associate Principal, Perkins&Will
Dan McTavish brings a client-centric approach to every project, driven by the excitement of solving complex challenges through design. He finds inspiration in his clients’ work and enjoys learning about their industries. As a design principal, Dan fosters close collaboration...
Bruno Weber
Partner, KPMB
Bruno Weber joined KPMB Architects in 2000. He is committed to making architecture that cultivates community and brings diverse groups together to work for a better world. KPMB’s reputation has been enriched by Bruno’s influential contributions to a series of...
David Dow
Principal, Diamond Schmitt
David Dow is a principal with Diamond Schmitt Architects in Toronto. He enjoys tackling large and complex design problems to which he brings a pragmatic sensibility and creative flair. His demonstrated ability to work with developer, institutional and private owner...
Natasha Appel
Business Development Manager, EJOT
Natasha Appel is a Business Development Manager at EJOT, bringing over two decades of experience in architecture and façade systems. With a deep-rooted passion for building science, design, and high-performance building envelopes, she works closely with partners and clients to...
Matias Reyes
National Architectural Manager, Vitro Architectural Glass
With over 11 years of experience in the architectural and construction industry, Matias Reyes brings a deep understanding of both design intent and building performance to every project. For the past two years, he has been with Vitro Architectural Glass,...
Dima Cook
Director | Principal, EVOQ
Dima Cook leads EVOQ’s Toronto office. She has over 27 years of experience and specializes in project management. She has overseen many heritage studies, historic structures reports and building condition assessments where she led multi-disciplinary teams of architects, conservation experts,...
Jordi Marasse
Technical Project Consultant, Reynaers Aluminium
Jordi Marasse is Project Consultant Manager North America at Reynaers Aluminum. For the last 4 years Jordi has been coordinating the North American projects. Jordi consistently goes above and beyond to foster enduring partnerships with our esteemed architects, real estate...
Alex Josephson
Principal, Partisans
Alex Josephson co-founded PARTISANS in 2012 after studying architecture at the University of Waterloo and Rome, and the Architectural Association School of Architecture (AA). Alex is a native of Toronto. Prior to starting PARTISANS, Alex worked in the studio of...
Ravneet Saini
Regional Manager, Saint-Gobain Glass Canada
Ravneet brings over a decade of experience in the glass industry, specializing in façade glass solutions. Her career has spanned multiple countries, where she has collaborated with architects, designers, and project teams in India, UAE, France, and now Canada. Ravneet...
Martin Durivage
Architectural Project and Specification Manager, Saint-Gobain Glass Canada
Martin brings over 30 years of experience working alongside architects. Renowned for his passion for architecture and façade design, he has spent the past nine years creating, managing, and delivering optimized Saint‑Gobain Glass façade specifications. Prior to joining Saint‑Gobain, Martin...
Sudhir Bommu
Associate | Building Envelope & Facades Skills Leader, Arup
Sudhir is an Associate in the Arup Toronto office. He specializes in integrating architectural design, building physics, daylighting, and structural engineering through digital design skills to provide a holistic approach to building envelope design. Sudhir has worked with multiple disciplines...
Conference Agenda
  • Responding to and respecting a rich historical context with a contemporary architectural design
  • Integrating stone within a high-performance curtain wall system to unite traditional material character with modern building envelope technologies
  • Leveraging prefabricated modular façade construction to improve efficiency and installation precision
Speakers:
  • Integrating building enclosure design and commissioning early in the process helps identify and address enclosure risks before construction begins
  • Coordination between mass timber structures and prefabricated façade systems requires careful management of tolerances, moisture control, and air and water barrier continuity
  • Lessons learned from design, fabrication, mock-up testing, and field verification demonstrate how an integrated approach can improve façade quality and long-term building performance
Speakers:
  • Sustainability strategy
  • The importance of operational carbon and embodied carbon: Need to go hand in hand to decarbonise
  • What really makes a building sustainable
Speakers:
  • Understanding biophilia
  • Designing with nature in mind
  • Glass as a catalyst for biophilia
Speakers:
  • Influence of the rainscreen attachment system
  • Benefits of stainless steel: Resistance to fire, thermal and energy, corrosion resistance
  • Sustainability
Speakers:
  • Understanding the importance of glass visualization in façade decision-making
  • Glazing comparison: Choosing the right glazing is not just about performance. Aesthetics and perception play a crucial role
  • New technologies that aid in selecting the best aesthetics bring us closer to the realistic appearance of the façade
Speakers:
  • The new gantry, first of its kind, was used to perform critical interventions, including installing new lights and exterior cladding
  • High-strength laminated glass and tailor-made aluminum mullions enclose the perimeter, fastened by custom-engineered movement connections designed to accommodate the tower’s oscillation
  • An airlock vestibule system stabilizes airflow and wind pressure differentials, enabling seamless circulation between indoors and outdoors
Speakers:
  • Understand how Indigenous collaboration shaped the development of Odenak's façade, informing material expression, design intent, and the relationship between architecture, place, and cultural identity
  • Examine the technical development of a high-performance modular building envelope, including the integration of curtain wall and window wall systems, prefabrication strategies, and construction approaches that improved buildability and reduced site complexity
  • Explore how interdisciplinary collaboration enabled the delivery of a façade that balances design ambition with environmental performance, supporting Zero Carbon Building Standard and LEED Gold targets while realizing a technically rigorous and constructible solution

Dan McTavish

Speakers:
  • How Canadian climate, high-performance energy targets and zero-carbon ambitions are shaping the balance between opaque enclosure and glazing
  • Treating transparency as a purposeful architectural act, placing glass where it brings daylight, views, connection and meaning rather than maximizing it by default
  • Lessons from a portfolio of zero-carbon and mass timber projects on creating façades that integrate envelope performance, material expression, and architectural identity
Speakers:
  • Next generation stainless steel masonry support systems
  • Realizing intricate brick features with prefabricated brick slip soffit systems
  • Case studies: Innovation in action
Speakers:
  • Carbon impact of insulating glass: Embodied and operational considerations
  • Role of edge seal durability in insulating glass performance
  • Reference projects
Speakers:
  • The retrofit journey necessitated collaboration with a team of specialized consultants, including Synergy, to meet the decarbonization goals
  • Highlights of the transformation include triple-glazed windows for enhanced energy efficiency and to allow fuel-switching, upgraded joint sealants, new metal flashings to improve water shedding and reduce staining, and fresh textured architectural coatings for a modern finish
  • Lessons learned. The project illustrates how building envelope retrofits can help achieve decarbonization targets. This project has been recognized by BOMA
Speakers:
  • Criteria for Heritage Preservation | What are the key factors that guide decisions in building preservation?
  • How do you add something new while respecting the history of a place?
  • What role do local stakeholders and civic partners play in your projects?

Dima Cook

Speakers:
Event Details
  • 231st Edition – Zak World of Façades Canada, October 07, 2026
  • Start Date
    October 7, 2026 8:00 am
  • End Date
    October 7, 2026 5:00 pm
  • Status
    Upcoming
  • Location
  • Venue
  • Category
    • Sponsors

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