Karen Wan-Gauthier

Architect AIBC & Community Engagement Specialist

Karen is an architect and community engagement specialist based in Vancouver, BC. Since establishing her firm in 2012, she has steadily built a reputation for delivering client projects in a way that brings a greater sense of culture, history, and ecology to the communities in which she works. Through her work in planning and policy, public engagement, and volunteerism, her career has centred around the simple idea that architecture is an opportunity to enrich public wellbeing.

We are always more inclined to trust an architect or consultant who is willing to show up on site and deal with problems first hand. That's Karen. Never one to shy away from conversations with a contractor or explain realities to a client; the backbone of her business is trust, reliability, and taking action. Whether metaphorically rolling up sleeves at a meeting, or physically lacing up steel toes; Karen believes successful architecture comes from devoting yourself to the project.

Have a project in mind?

Karen enjoys working on pretty much any project that benefits the greater community — whether dealing with high level visioning projects or building small scale community amenities. Her belief is that an architect's role extends beyond design and aesthetics. That an architect should facilitate in knowledge translation and building relationships. She does this by understanding the goals of clients, and ensuring that the needs of people in the community are being met. Making solutions accessible by jumping on whatever task needs to be taken care of to free up time and resources for other members of the team to contribute their own best skills. If you have a project in mind, send a note and start the conversation. In particular, she enjoys public consultation, visioning and legacy projects, projects related to healthcare, heritage, and social or environmental stewardship,