Garth Poitras Joins Gravity

We’ve happy to announce that Garth Poitras has joined us here at Gravity as an Architectural Technologist.

Garth’s passion for building structures started in 1989 when he was learning the tricks of the trades included everything from drywall and stucco, but with the bulk of his experience focused in framing. In 1998 he shifted from from production construction to the more creative and free-form carpentry possible in log home building at Sure Log Homes,

After a five-year stretch of log home building (the highlight of the on-site portion of his career), and a move to Halifax, Garth satisfied his creative inclinations by enrolling into the Drafting/Architectural course at Nova Scotia Community College where he graduated in 2005. 

With years of experience in general contracting and construction of custom homes, he focused his new career as an architectural technologist on working with like-minded builders including Morrison Homes, Albi Homes and Cornerstone Homes. Throughout his well-rounded career in the construction industry, Garth found inspiration while working in a talent-rich environments. With a desire to continue working with talented, like-minded people he found Gravity through a close connection.

We’re very pleased to have Garth on our team!

Gravity's New BIM Manager

We’re happy to welcome Adam Nixon to the team at Gravity!

Adam spent countless hours with Lego in his youth (and adult) life. This evolved into an interest in PC modifications and gaming, and these two hobbies synchronized with a drafting class in high school which opened the door to a career in Architecture.

Graduating the Architectural Technology diploma program with honours from NAIT in 2009. Adam has gained experience at wide variety of firms finding his niche in leveraging the BIM environment.

First exposed to real-world Revit in 2014 at Dialog working on Bjarke Ingels Group’s Telus SKY, he was taken with the efficiency BIM could offer.

From there he had the opportunity to work with Executive Millwork reverse engineering a Revit model to generate shop drawings and installation diagrams for the internal woodwork in Calgary’s New Central Library by Snøhetta and Dialog. More recently Adam was responsible for the implementation of Revit at Sturgess Architecture, taking on the role of BIM manager.

In the fall of 2021, Adam joined Gravity Architecture, eager to bring a new perspective to the growing team.

These days Adam spends his free time with a healthy mix of woodworking, motorcycles, downhill mountain biking, and snowboarding in the winter.

Adam joins us as a Senior Technologist and our BIM Manager.

Welcome Nicholas Tam!

We’d like to welcome Nicholas Tam to the team at Gravity!

Nicholas’s early penchant for drawing and craft led to his pursuit of a Bachelor of Architecture at the University of Southern California, winning multiple studio commendations and awarded the opportunity to study at the Politecnico di Milano for a semester, immersing himself in classical Roman architecture, Italian literature, and field studies throughout Italy and Switzerland.

Nicholas has been involved with architecture varying in typology, scale, and complexities ranging through athletic centres, institutional master plans, industrial warehouses, medical facilities, commercial, and multi-family (6 to 200+ units). This diversity of project exposure begets interpreting every design prompt anew; challenging convention with meaningful design narratives and articulating ideas with clarity. He is an eternal optimist that sees opportunity in every difficulty and executes projects from sketch to site with an exceptional level of organization. Travel and field sketching continue to be a treasured habit to this day.

Nicholas has taken the role of Project Architect at Gravity.

Gravity's Mixed Use and Commercial Expertise

We believe that every successful practice is more than the sum of its individual parts and we are fortunate to be able to draw upon decades of collective experience from our seasoned staff as well as our collaborative corporate culture. Our team has worked on numerous mixed use and commercial projects of various scales throughout British Columbia and Alberta. This allows us to assign the right people to each aspect of your project, and then to succeed on wide range of projects from mid to large scale.

Below are a number of projects that our team have executed while at Gravity or at previous firms. Together we are able to apply the expertise our team has gained from this experience to the success of your next project.

Kristopher Brown Joins the Team

Kristofer Brown has joined the team at Gravity!

He completed his Architectural Technology diploma at SAIT Polytechnic in 2021. Despite the pandemic he persevered with dedication and being highly engaged in online classes. Receiving his diploma with honors, he looks to continue that level of commitment with Gravity Architecture.

Prior to his recent diploma, Kristofer completed the Carpentry program at SAIT where he received his Red Seal Journeyman certification in 2013. During his apprenticeship he gained experience with foundations, renovations, residential/commercial builds, and finishing carpentry. He took his hand at a supervisor position and that’s where he realized he wanted to contribute to the industry in the field of architecture. He knew how to build it, but he wanted to learn what went into the design and how to make the design work with Bylaw and Code regulations.

With a passion for constantly improving his construction and technical knowledge, Kristofer joined Gravity in 2021 where he is currently working on helping the team with project work and learning the ins and outs of the design process.

Permits in Good Hands with Jay Wiwchar

Jay Wiwchar is now Gravity’s Permit Coordinator. He is responsible for the submission and administration of all permits submitted by Gravity, including development permits, building permits, and land use permits.

He brings over 20 years of experience in the construction industry to his position at Gravity. 

He began his journey into the construction industry as an electrician in 1998. After obtaining his Red Seal in the electrical trade, he then obtained Master’s certification and introductory training as a safety codes officer. Always looking to gain knowledge, in 2009 Jay returned to school obtaining a Bachelor of Arts Honours Degree in Communications Studies from the University of Calgary.

Jay’s previous projects in the electrical trade included roles in management and quality control administration and these roles assisted in his sound knowledge of government policy and legislation related to the construction industry. These roles, along with his lifelong fascination with the aesthetics and process of building design ignited Jay’s desire to oversee the administrative function of a project and added to his pursuit of a technology diploma in architecture.

He completed the Architectural Technologist program at SAIT in 2021, fulfilling his childhood aspiration to work in the field of architecture.

Jay has lived in Calgary for the past 20 years and enjoys the company of his wife and cats, renovating his century home, cycling, skiing, and long drives in the countryside.

We welcome Jay to the team at Gravity!

Gravity is Hiring

Gravity has been transitioning from a small boutique residential design firm into a full-service, multi-office architecture firm. With larger and more complex projects, we are in need of team players who will extend our great reputation for high quality work while maintaining our positive working environment. We are currently searching for a Project Architect and a Senior Architectural Technologist for our Calgary office. 

The successful candidates will be working on architecture projects from predesign through construction and contract administration. They will be working on a variety of projects, interacting with clients, vendors, and our technical team. They will be set into an excellent position of growing within this expanding firm. 

More information is on our careers page.

Open for Business, by Appointment

During these uncertain times, Gravity Architecture remains committed to the safety and well-being of our staff and visitors, while continuing to provide responsive solutions to our clients. With Alberta and BC’s new COVID-19 restrictions in place, access to our studios will be by appointment only.⁠

Please touch base with us prior to popping in. ⁠

Trishuda Jain's Anniversary and Promotion

We're pleased to announce that Trishuda Jain as been on our team for ten years. As well, we’re happy to share that Trishuda has been promoted to the role of Project Manager.

Trishuda completed an Architectural Assistantship program in 2000 from India. She started her career with Kalpakriti Consultants where she gained experience in residential planning and interior design. Later, she got an independent opportunity for designing various oil and gas stations in Northern India. In 2005, she joined the municipal urban planning department where she contributed her experience on city wide projects. During this period of time she worked on AutoCAD, ADT and Revit.

After coming to Canada, Trishuda resumed her career as a technologist with Genesis Builders Group where she gained experience in the residential suburban housing market. Trishuda joined Inertia in 2010 as our second employee and has since been an integral team member of Inertia Residential Design.

Trishuda now is a project manager at Gravity Architecture with responsibilities that include managing the firm’s larger scale projects as well as monitoring project performance across all of our projects.

Congratulations on your work anniversary and promotion, Trishuda!

A Message to Our Clients and Community

We’re still working hard on your projects remotely, however we can’t confirm everyone is wearing pants...
Please enjoy this gallery of the team practicing social distancing.

From the entire Gravity Team - Be Safe, Stay Healthy, and Wash Your Hands!

We’re all available by email, phone, and video conference. Appointments are still available at the office, though pants are mandatory!

A Peek Inside our Calgary Studio

In August, we moved into our new studio in Calgary’s Beltline. We’ve since unpacked and furnished the space, and we wanted to share some images of our new home.

This space has some massive improvements over our old office. Mainly, all of us now work in the same studio space, which makes communication much easier. Also, we have two meeting rooms, a retreat, and a kitchen we can eat lunch together in.

During construction we decided to pull the drywall off of the elevator shaft core. While there was some spray paint on the wall, a little muriatic acid removed it, and the results is a beautiful raw concrete wall in our waiting area.

We paid a lot of attention to lighting our space. None of the building’s overhead fluorescent lighting is needed. Lighting is provided with lamps, pendants, and a limited number of LED ceiling pucks. This reduces both glare and energy use, and gives our office a more comfortable, residential feel.

While people are rethinking open office plans, we enjoy our open studio. We believe that so long as people have options for privacy, an open plan works very well. Our second meeting room is a perfect breakout space so meetings don’t interrupt the rest of the team. As well, our small retreat is perfect for focused work or making phone calls.

It doesn’t show up in any of the pictures, but we’re also thrilled with our gigabit internet connection!

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Gravity's New Location!

On August 12, 2019, Gravity Architecture will open at our new studio at 405-999 8 ST SW in Calgary’s Beltline district.

There was lots that we liked about our old location. It was relatively central, easy to get to, had lots of free parking, and it was easy to pop outside for a breath of fresh air. However, on the downside, our studio was split into two spaces which made team communication feel disconnected. Moreover, it only had copper pair for internet services, so we had to rely on a fixed wireless connection to get even modest speeds.

After an extensive search, we chose our new location because it fixes these problems, while creating a lot of new opportunities. We were able to add about 1000 SF, which gives us a larger studio, a second board room, a kitchen large enough to gather in, and a usable storage room. Being in the Beltline gives our staff more transportation options, and puts us close to City Hall and our printer. We were also careful to choose a building that has a good supply of free two-hour visitors stalls for our clients. It also doesn’t hurt for us to be so close to M.E.C., The Holy Grill, Posto, Analog, etc.

We look forward to welcoming visitors to our new space. .