About - Paul Raff Studio Architects

Paul Raff Studio is an architecture, art, and design practice dedicated to a creative vision of the highest calibre. Based in Toronto, Canada, we have achieved international distinction and are the only firm ever to receive both the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada’s Allied Arts Medal for artistic excellence and its Innovation Award for technical ingenuity.

We embrace sustainability, integrating environmental performance with artistry to create designs that are as responsible as they are inspiring.

From intimate residences to transformative developments and sculptural landmarks, we approach each project as unique and site-specific, crafted to deliver exceptional experiences and enduring value. Our global perspective, grounded in deep cultural literacy and experience working across diverse urban and natural landscapes, enriches every design.

Beyond architecture, our acclaimed public artworks explore the interplay of material, craft, meaning, and context. This, in turn, informs how we design buildings of exceptional refinement and originality, distinctive in both form and execution.

Services

We provide full architectural and interior design services, guiding projects from concept through completion. We also create site-specific artworks and offer art direction for landscape and building projects.

Services include site assessment, visioning, and development strategy across a range of project types:

Residential
Cultural
Commercial
Multi-Unit
Net-Zero & Carbon Neutral
Public Art
Sculptural Works
Hotels, Resorts & Spas
Renovations
Adaptive Reuse
Master Planning
Landscape Spaces

Awards

2025	RAIC Fellowship, The Royal Architecture Institute of Canada
2019	AIANY + ASLA-NY Structures Honor Award (Atmospheric Lens), Design Excellence Awards Award of Merit (Atmospheric Lens), AZ Awards
2018	CODAAwards — Transportation Category Winner (Atmospheric Lens), CODAworx Design Excellence Award (Limelight Bandshell), Ontario Association of Architects
2016	IES Illumination Section Award (Wavelengths), IES Toronto Illumination Section Awards 10+5+X Awards — 22nd Cycle (Echo House), World Architecture Community Concepts Award (Shoreline Commemorative), Ontario Association of Architects
2015	Award of Excellence (Mirage), Toronto Urban Design Awards Award of Merit (Shoreline Commemorative), Toronto Urban Design Awards Award of Excellence (Echo House), Ontario Association of Architects
2013	Artifact Honourable Mention (Knob Portrait: Mayor Ford), Ontario Association of Architects
2012	Ronald J. Thom Award for Early Design Achievement, Canada Council for the Arts Architecture Multiple Residence (Bluepoint), International Property Awards – Asia Pacific Development Multiple Units (Bluepoint), International Property Awards – Asia Pacific Award of Excellence (Bluepoint Pavilion), Ontario Association of Architects Concepts & Presentation – Artifact Award (Regina Gateway), Ontario Association of Architects
2011	20+10+X Awards – 9th Cycle (Cascade House), World Architecture Community Canadian Green Building Award, Sustainable Architecture & Building Awards
2009	Best of Canada Award (Cascade House), International Interior Design Exposition Prix de Rome / Rome Prize (As Director of RVTR), Canada Council for the Arts Allied Arts Medal (Lifetime Achievement), Royal Architectural Institute of Canada Innovation Honourable Mention (Bluepoint Façade), Royal Architectural Institute of Canada Award of Excellence (Cascade House), Ontario Association of Architects Best Green Design (Cascade House), Green Source Magazine
2008	Award of Merit (Cascade House), Design Exchange
2007	House of the Year (Cascade House), The Globe and Mail
2006	Canadian Selection for NAFTA Lecture on Architecture, University of Illinois-Chicago
2005	Michael V. & Wanda Plachta Award (Garden Pavilion), Ontario Association of Architects
2004	Wood Design Award (Garden Pavilion), Architectural Design Excellence
2001	Allied Arts Award (Lifetime Achievement), Ontario Association of Architects Creative Residency (Architecture and the Sky), Banff Center for the Arts
1999	Governor General’s Award (Strachan House by Levitt Goodman Architects), Artist Consultant
1998	Selected for Arts & Culture Highlights Annual Review (Fall), Bravo! TV
1995	Best Art Exhibition of the Year (Unbuilding Ways), Now Magazine Selection

Publications

2026	In Canada’s Most Famous National Park, Kengo Kuma and Paul Raff Design an Almost Invisible Project, Chiara Testoni, Domus
	Kengo Kuma & Associates and Paul Raff Studio Selected to Design New Banff National Park Visitor Centre in Canada, Antonia Piñeiro, ArchDaily
	Parks Canada Announces Winning Design of Banff 200-Block Redevelopment Competition, Canadian Architect
	Kengo Kuma and Paul Raff’s New National Park Visitor Center Blends Into Canadian Rockies, Claire Brodka, Designboom
	Toronto, Tokyo Architects Named Winner of Design Competition for Banff Visitor’s Centre, Stephen Hunter, CTV News
	Banff Makeover: Input Sought Before Big Changes Made, CTV News
2025	Paul Raff Taps Into Puerto Rico’s ‘Architectural Roots’ for House Renovation, Dezeen
	In Puerto Rico, a Screened-In Villa Deftly Connects With the Outdoors, Azure
	Villa Brisana / Paul Raff Studio, ArchDaily
	Villa Brisana Is a Puerto Rico Home Renovated by Paul Raff Studio, Trend Hunter
	Villa Brisana: Nature at Every Turn, The Plan
2024	Rewarding Experiments — An Interview With Paul Raff, Untitled (The Public Art Zine) No. 4
2023	Building a Bright Future, Matthew Hague, Designlines
	Artworx TO: Toronto’s Year of Public Art 2021–2022, City of Toronto
2021	Reconsider Arts Complex at Station C, Dave Leblanc, The Globe and Mail
	Atmospheric Lens, Shadi Abou Samra, Archiroots Magazine
	Memorials, Ruth Jones, The Site Magazine
2019	Construction Begins on Rejigged Victims of Communism Memorial, Ottawa Citizen
	Paul Raff’s Kaleidoscope House Channels the Sun, Simon Lewson, Designlines
	Exhibit: ROMA XL, Istituto Italiano di Cultura di Toronto
2018	Vaughan TTC Installation Wins a 2018 CODAworx Award, Canadian Interiors
	Paul Raff Studio Wins CODAworx Award for TTC’s Vaughan Station, Canadian Architect
	Construction Begins on Ottawa Memorial for Victims of Communism, Construction Canada
	Victims of Communism Memorial: a Decade in the Making, Ottawa Citizen
	Timeline: Memorial to the Victims of Communism, Liisa Tuominen, Ottawa Citizen
	A Modern Home Gets a Garden to Match, Eric Mutrie, Designlines
	A Sound Sculpture for North York, Sara Cunningham, Designlines
	In the Limelight, Elsa Lam, Canadian Architect
	CODA Awards Honor the Best Site-Specific Artwork, Georgine McWhirter, Interior Design
	Underpass Park is the Original Play Space Under the DVP, Tanya Mok, BlogTO
2017	A Subway Station Worth Lingering In, Guy Dixon, The Globe and Mail
	A Sun-Drenched ‘Kaleidoscope House’ in Toronto, Simon Lewsen, Azure Magazine
2016	Illusion Versus Reality, Alex Bozikovic, Interior Design Magazine
	Spirit in the Sky From the Backyard, John Bentley Mays, The Globe and Mail
2015	For Yorkville, Ice Cream Castles in the Air?, John Bentley Mays, The Globe and Mail
2014	A Clear Advantage, John Bentley Mays, International Architecture & Design Magazine
	Breaking Away From Traditional, John Bentley Mays, The Globe and Mail
2012	Underpass Park Now Open, Our Toronto, Volume 5, Issue 3
	A Stylish Overhaul in Toronto’s Best-designed Subdivision, J.B. Mays, The Globe and Mail
2010	City Chooses Sculpture Design, Joe Couture, Regina Leader-Post
2009	Interpreting the Collage of the Physical World, John Bentley Mays, The Globe and Mail
	Green Light, John Bentley Mays, Azure Magazine
2008	Housing With More Bang, John Bentley Mays, The Globe and Mail
	Matters of Concern, Esther Shipman, Pandora Press
2007	XS Green: Big Ideas, Small Buildings, Phyllis Richardson, Thames & Hudson
2006	Rebirth of the Rex Through Architectural Magic, John Bentley Mays, The Globe and Mail
	Modern Tree Houses in a Lush Landscape, John Bentley Mays, The Globe and Mail
2005	Garden Pavilion, Toronto, Hans Fonk, Objekt