About Us - Onyx Vexen Quintho Architectural Domains

Our Story (The Real Version)

Look, we started this whole thing back in 2011 after working at one of those massive firms where everything felt like pushing paper. Three of us were sitting at a coffee shop on King West, sketching ideas on napkins - classic cliche, right? But honestly, that's how it went down.

We noticed something weird happening with how Toronto was developing. There was this gap between what planners wanted, what the city actually needed, and what made financial sense. Someone had to bridge that, and we thought... why not us?

Turns out "architectural domains" isn't just fancy talk - it's about understanding the entire ecosystem around a building. The zoning laws, the neighborhood vibe, the way people actually move through spaces (not how we think they should). That's where the magic happens.

The Team Behind the Blueprints

Maya Chen

Principal Architect & Urban Planner

Maya's the one who keeps us grounded when we get too theoretical. She spent 8 years doing commercial redevelopment before joining us, and she's got this uncanny ability to spot zoning issues from a mile away. Also makes the best coffee in the office, which is honestly half the reason we're productive.

Raj Patel

Sustainability Lead & Design Director

Raj is obsessed with making buildings that don't suck energy like vampires. He's been in the green building game since before it was trendy, and he'll talk your ear off about passive solar design if you let him. Worth it though - the guy saved one client $40k annually on their HVAC costs.

Sarah O'Connor

Heritage Restoration Specialist

When Sarah joined us three years ago, we didn't even have a heritage division. Now it's 30% of our business. She's got this gift for seeing what a building was meant to be, beneath all the terrible renovations people did in the 80s. Plus she knows everyone at City Hall, which helps when permits get sticky.

Marcus Williams

Commercial Domain Analyst

Marcus came from the development side, which gives him this perspective most architects don't have. He actually understands pro formas and cap rates - stuff that makes our eyes glaze over but determines whether a project lives or dies. He's basically our reality check when we get too idealistic about a design.

Elena Kowalski

Residential Planning Lead

Elena's background is in urban sociology, which sounds pretentious but it's actually super useful. She thinks about how families actually live in spaces, not how design magazines say they should. Every time we're about to do something that looks cool but would be annoying to live with, Elena calls us out.

Thomas Bergmann

Senior Consultant & Founding Partner

Tom's the wise one who's seen it all. He worked on some of Toronto's major developments in the 90s and early 2000s, back when the waterfront was still a mess. Now he mostly consults on the tricky projects where there's too many stakeholders and not enough consensus. Somehow he gets people to agree on things.

How We Actually Work

Forget the formal pitch deck stuff. Here's what really happens when you work with us: we show up, we listen (like, actually listen), we ask annoying questions about things you haven't thought about, and then we sketch a bunch of ideas. Some are terrible. Some might work. We figure it out together.

We're not gonna tell you what you need - that's the fastest way to design something nobody wants. Instead, we'll help you figure out what makes sense for your site, your budget, and the neighborhood you're building in. Sometimes that means scaling back. Sometimes it means being bolder than you thought possible.

Let's Talk About Your Project

What We Believe In

Context Matters

Every building exists in a neighborhood, and ignoring that context is how you end up with those glass towers that feel totally out of place. We spend as much time studying the surroundings as we do designing the building itself.

People Use Buildings

Sounds obvious, right? But you'd be surprised how many designs forget that real humans with bags and kids and groceries need to actually navigate these spaces daily.

Budget Isn't a Dirty Word

We work with what you've got. There's no point designing something you can't afford to build. Good architecture happens at every price point - it's about making smart choices, not throwing money around.

Sustainability By Default

It's 2024. Energy efficiency shouldn't be an "add-on" - it should be baked into every decision from day one. Future you will thank present you when those utility bills come in.