Our Team
Craig Applegath Partner, Architect BSc | BArch | MArchUD | PPOAA | Architect AIBC | NSAA | AIA | FRAIC | LEED® AP BD+C Toronto

Architect, urban designer, and zero-carbon building pioneer, Craig is a founding partner of our Toronto studio. Having trained first as a biologist, he is passionate about finding planning and design solutions that make sense in a world challenged by climate change and environmental deterioration. Craig has focused his career on leading complex, sustainable planning and design projects. He is internationally recognized for his design and advocacy of zero-carbon regenerative buildings and cities, as well as mass timber design—exemplified by the recent Centennial College Zero-Carbon Mass Timber project.

Beyond his professional practice responsibilities, Craig speaks about his research and design explorations at conferences and workshops worldwide. He has presented at the UN Habitat III Conference in Prague, the World Future Council Conferences in Munich and Beijing, and the International Living Futures Institute Conference in Portland. Craig also hosts the Twenty First Century Imperative, a podcast that explores how we will continue to live on our planet without destroying our biosphere. These issues are also central to Craig’s work with our team.

Craig is also active in the design community, as a founding board member of Sustainable Buildings Canada and past president of the Ontario Association of Architects. He was made a fellow of the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada for his services to the architectural profession and is an honourary member of the Ontario Association of Landscape Architects. Additionally, Craig is the acting chairman of the Mass Timber Institute and works with the MTI council to transform the institute into a national organization.

What’s your favourite DIALOG initiative?
There’s a lot to choose from! But I think the one I care most about is the DIALOG Net-Zero Carbon commitment. This is our commitment to be carbon neutral in our operations. To achieve this, and to deal with the carbon that can’t be reduced, we have partnered with Community Forests International (CFI) to create an innovative forest carbon offset that not only offsets the carbon footprint of DIALOG’s entire operations, but also saves at-risk Acadian forests and provides economic stimulus for local communities. For me, this is one of the best examples of DIALOG living its mission!

Do you have a passion project outside of work?
Hosting the Twenty First Century Imperative Podcast is my passion project. It gives me the opportunity to interview wonderfully inspiring people who are doing very cool and innovative things to help us answer the three questions of the Twenty First Century Imperative which are: How will we continue to live on our planet without destroying our biosphere? How will we repair and regenerate the environmental damage we have already caused? And, how will we successfully adapt to the escalating impacts of climate change?

What’s one hobby you have outside of work?
I love getting into the wilderness to fly fish and connect with nature in a way that helps keep me grounded in the natural world.

"I'm one of the luckiest people in the world. Every day has something hugely interesting and meaningful going on in it. I have so many innovative projects, and so many cool initiatives I’m involved with, that it’s hard to fit them into the week!"
Education

Master of Architecture and Urban Design
Harvard University Graduate School of Design

Bachelor of Architecture
Dalhousie University

Bachelor of Science, Biology
University of Toronto

Featured Work

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