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Peter Busby - Canadian Architect

He was born on September 26th 1952 in Southport, UK, but came to Canada as his father got a job in Toronto.

He pursued a psychology degree from the University of Toronto in 1974 and took some political science classes, some of which he says have really impacted and shaped his morals and view of the world. He was a “self-proclaimed hippie” and wanted to change the world. He ended up taking a history of architecture class while at University of Toronto which he says “opened my eyes to architecture, I thought I can take my ethical position and design buildings that are actually environmental.” He then applied to all schools in Canada and started studying architecture at UBC, graduating in 1977.

When a recession was plaguing his career pretty hard, he decided to go to the UK to become part of the high-tech movement and find work there with one of the established Architects. He settled on Norman Foster as his architect of choice and showed up at his firm every single day for a week as they would not see him, eventually they gave him an interview and a job as a result. Him and his wife moved their whole lives to England for 2 years so he could pursue working for Norman Foster, transferring to Hong Kong for a year and then returning back to Canada to start a family.

Upon moving to Vancouver, he worked for BC Place through another recession, later deciding to start his own practice in 1984. He opened in an impoverished area of Vancouver to give a “social intervention aspect to my practice” and it later became known as the entertainment district. He worked with Paul Bridger for 8 years starting in 1986, later continuing on his own until he merged with firm Perkins + Will in 2004. He’s been with them ever since, becoming director of the San Francisco office.

While in school for philosophy and taking some political science classes as well, it helped shape his view of architecture that he would later take, giving him a very simple, sustainable and environmentally friendly approach to building and designing that would inform his future designs and ideas. He is driven by his desire to make a difference and be as energy efficient as possible, he has achieved that in many of his buildings. He thought that environmental responsibility was a huge factor in designing buildings and struggled for years and years trying to convince clients that they didn’t need air conditioning, operable windows and natural ventilation can do just as good of a job and even save money in the long run. “It was the only argument we had, “we can save you money”.” As a result of his aspirations for net zero buildings, he often uses wood as a building material when he can as it stores carbon and “evokes natural warmth and humanity through the atmospheric qualities”.

Some notable projects and buildings by Peter Busby / Perkins + Will are Canada’s Earth Tower in Vancouver, British Columbia, Perkins + Will Atlanta studio in Atlanta, Georgia, and Lucile Packard Children's Hospital in Palo Alto, California.

Canada’s Earth Tower is a proposed 40 story building made mainly out of wood and concrete, which would make it the world’s tallest hybrid wood building while also being net zero carbon emissions. “This can help create meaningful connections to the environment and promote positive change.”

The Perkins + Will Atlanta studio design was more of an adaptive reuse project than a new build, as they chose a preexisting building and modified it to be as sustainable as possible, it ended up being “certified LEED Platinum and even scored the most LEED points in the northern hemisphere.”

The Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital was certified LEED Platinum as well and has over a quarter of the materials sourced from within 500 miles of Palo Alto. Much of the wood is reclaimed and refurbished, it was originally “salvaged from the Old Moffett Hangar 1, a 1930’s Naval hangar that towered over the nearby mountain range and Silicon Valley.” There are also solar shading devices on the patient windows to provide the most comfort as possible while reducing cost and energy consumption.

Citations 1. Lam, Elsa. “Interview: Peter Busby,” June 1, 2014. https://www.canadianarchitect.com/path-to-practice/.

2. Lam, Elsa. “Interview: Peter Busby,” June 1, 2014. https://www.canadianarchitect.com/path-to-practice/.

3. Lam, Elsa. “Interview: Peter Busby,” June 1, 2014. https://www.canadianarchitect.com/path-to-practice/.

4. Lam, Elsa. “Interview: Peter Busby,” June 1, 2014. https://www.canadianarchitect.com/path-to-practice/.

5. “Peter Busby.” Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, December 18, 2020. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Busby. 6. Yeung, Karena. “Canada's Earth Tower.” Perkins&Will. Perkins & Will, July 8, 2019. https://perkinswill.com/project/canadas-earth-tower/.

7. Salado, Sally. “Our Atlanta Studio.” Perkins&Will. Perkins & Will, June 17, 2019. https://perkinswill.com/project/our-atlanta-studio/.

8. Davis, Andrea. “Lucile Packard Children's Hospital Stanford.” Perkins&Will. Perkins & Will, August 26, 2019. https://perkinswill.com/project/lucile-packard-childrens-hospital-stanford/.

Additional Sources

Alter, Lloyd. “Peter Busby Designs a 40 Storey Timber Tower Proposed for Vancouver.” Treehugger. Dot Dash, April 28, 2019. https://www.treehugger.com/peter-busby-designs-storey-timber-tower-proposed-vancouver-4856504.

Libby, Brian. “Q+A: Peter Busby on Architecture's New Edges.” Architect Magazine, July 27, 2015. https://www.architectmagazine.com/design/exhibits-books-etc/q-a-peter-busby-on-architectures-new-edges_o.