RAIC Gold Medal 2025 Recipients

This year, BEAT founding member Shirley Blumberg is one of the two winners of the RAIC Gold Medal this year, alongside Marianne McKenna. Read her news article on the RAIC website and check out her interview with Canadian Architect here.

Established as Kuwabara Payne McKenna Blumberg Architects in 1987, KPMB Architects introduced a studio model that stood out for its ethnic and gender diversity —unconventional among North American architectural practices at the time. This diversity continues to be one of the signature strengths of KPMB, reflecting its identity as a Canadian practice. However, it is also the thoughtful calibration of heterogeneous influences with rigorous design quality that distinguishes the practice.

With Bruce Kuwabara, Marianne McKenna, and Shirley Blumberg still practicing as founding partners, the firm has become one of Canada's most internationally recognized architectural practices. To date, the firm’s projects have earned hundreds of global awards, including 18 Governor General's Medals in Architecture, recognizing design excellence, sustainable practices, and commitment to building community.