about AEF'S Directors

Sarah Bancroft. Sarah is an entrepreneur, growth specialist and professional editor and manager in digital and new media. She co-founded the trendsetting web-native magazine VitaminDaily in 2004 which was acquired by Glacier Media in 2013. After spending almost three years as President of VitaminDaily at Glacier Media, and launching a print version of the website (VITA), Bancroft took a sabbatical year from 2016-2017 with her young family in Paris. Earlier in her career, Bancroft was associate editor at Vancouver magazine, and Western Editor at FASHION magazine. She holds a Master’s degree in Political Science and speaks English and French. She is a native Vancouverite with a vineyard in B.C.’s Okanagan wine country. She lives in Vancouver with her husband, the food stylist Murray Bancroft, and their two young daughters.

Larry Beasley. Larry is a practicing urbanist, teacher and author. He long served as Chief Planner of Vancouver and is now the Founding Principal of Beasley and Associates, an international planning and urban design consultancy, and the “Distinguished Practice Professor of Planning” at UBC. He serves on the Boards of Vancouver’s TransLink and Ottawa’s National Capital Commission. He is a Member of the Order of Canada. He has received the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal, the Kevin Lynch Prize from MIT, the UBC Applied Sciences Dean’s Medal of Distinction, and the award as “Advocate for Architecture” from the RAIC. Larry’s first book, with Jonathan Barnett, Ecodesign for Cities and Suburbs, led to an EdX on-line worldwide course. Vancouverism, his second book, will be out shortly.

Philip Boname. Philip is the driving force behind the development and growth of Urbanics Consultants Ltd., which he founded in 1976. The firm provides real estate development, project management, and economic impact services to create viable mixed use commercial, industrial, and residential projects including hotels and resorts, recreation and tourism facilities, shopping centres, downtown revitalization and waterfront development projects, and arts and cultural centres in North America and around the world. Philip has more than 48 years of professional experience in a wide variety of studies related to commercial and residential market feasibility, urban development and transit-oriented developments. In addition, he has extensive experience in conducting financial feasibility studies, economic impact assessments and downtown revitalization studies.

Trevor Boddy. Trevor is a critic of contemporary architecture/urbanism and a consulting urban designer. He is a Fellow of the RAIC, and holds Honorary Membership in the AIA. At the 2011 World Architecture Congress, Trevor’s essay “MEGA + MICRO: Canada, Innovation at the Extremes” received commendation for the UIA/CICA’s Pierre Vago Prize for best architectural criticism worldwide. His “HybridCity” was included in the 2011 VAG exhibition “WE Vancouver: 12 Manifestoes for the City.” As curator, Trevor produced the “Vancouverism: Architecture Builds the City” exhibition named marquee event for the 2008 London Festival of Architecture. Appointed Adjunct Professor in UBC’s SALA in 2012 and 2014; previous appointments at Manitoba, Oregon, Toronto and Carleton, plus serving as a studio critic and lecturer world-wide.

Brian Broster. Brian was inspired from an early age by ‘The Architecture of Arthur Erickson’. Later during Brian’s architectural training, Arthur was a mentor. His influence has impelled Brian to design spatially considered houses that similarly interact with context, site and light. Brian studied Architectural History and Theory at Carleton University, has degrees in Civil Engineering from Queen’s University and in Architecture from UBC, and is a member of the AIBC. He has designed retreat houses since 1992, as well as widely published houses with Marko Simcic Architect since 2000. Brian has served on the Astrolabe Musik Theatre Board since 2010, and as the Board’s Chair since 2012.

David Covo. David is an Associate Professor and past Director (1996-2007) of the School of Architecture at McGill University, where he has taught since 1977. He is currently teaching design, drawing and sketching, and professional practice, and he has maintained a private consulting practice since 1976. His research activities are related to his teaching and architectural practice and address drawing and the design process, building science, the special architectural requirements of the disabled, and housing in developing countries. He has worked professionally in Montreal, and in Pakistan in 1976 with John Schreiber and Yasmeen Lari, Architects, and as an academic he been active in teaching and/or research in Mexico, China, Romania, South Korea and Singapore. David is a Member of the Order of Architects of Quebec and a Fellow of the RAIC.

Clinton Cuddington. Clinton is the Founder and co-Principal of Measured Architecture. Prior to forming Measured in 2007 Clinton had amassed an impressive public architecture pedigree, including nine years as an architect for Bing Thom Architects working on commissions that included the redevelopment of the Arena Stage Theatre in Washington, DC, and the Surrey Campus of Simon Fraser University. With Measured, Clinton has actualized his vision to create a firm where architects can engage and collaborate with clients, builders and other artisans to create outcomes that surpass the sum of the individuals involved. Clinton received his Master of Architecture at University of British Columbia. He is a member of both the RAIC and AIBC, and is on the City of Vancouver’s First Shaughnessy District Advisory Panel. 

Christopher EricksonChristopher graduated from the UBC School of Architecture in 1985 and has over 40 years in architectural design doing cultural buildings, multi-family, commercial, mixed-use and private residential, working with notable firms like Arthur Erickson Architects, Dimakopolous et Associés, Endall Elliot Associates and Stantec Architecture. He has also completed several private renovation, development and design projects. He seeks logical, innovative and elegant design solutions that will stand the test of time. Current work focusses on abiding interests in the sensitive restoration and renovation of certain classic ‘mid-century modern’ homes, with forays into modular house and furniture design.

Barry Johns. Barry is a practising architect, and former Chancellor of the RAIC College of Fellows (2011-2017). Since 1981, his firm Barry Johns Architecture has sustained a reputation as an innovative design practice – with 100 design awards from around the world, including an Olympic Gold Medal for the Arts and the Governor General's Medal for Architecture. Deeply influenced by his six-year tenure with Arthur Erickson Architects in the 1970s, Barry is passionate about the role of architecture as a means to leading positive change in our communities. He believes in the need to ‘tread lightly upon the earth’, and in an architecture that champions inclusive humanism. Barry has received multiple honours including Honorary Fellowship with the AIA, and the Order of Athabasca University. He is the first international recipient (2018) of the Leslie M. Boney Medal from the AIA.

Phyllis Lambert. Phyllis is Founding Director Emeritus, Canadian Centre for Architecture in Montreal. Her contributions to architecture and urbanism are incalculable, from her work on major buildings worldwide to her catalytic effect in Montreal. In the 1950s, as Director of Planning for Mies van der Rohe’s Seagram Building, she was instrumental in adding a landmark to New York’s skyline. Twenty-five years later in founding the CCA she deepened and expanded the culture of architecture locally and internationally. In 1996, she formed the Fonds d’Investissement de Montréal, which invests in revitalization of low- and medium-income housing. Phyllis is a Companion of the Order of Canada and Commander of France’s Ordre des Arts et des Lettres. At the 2014 Venice Architecture Biennale, she was honored with the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement

Donald Luxton. Born and raised in Vancouver, Don has a passionate interest in local history and heritage. Involved in the field of heritage and cultural resource management since 1983, he is a well-known consultant, advocate, educator and award-winning author, and has worked on numerous projects throughout western Canada, including municipal planning projects, heritage registers, the restoration of residential, commercial, and institutional buildings, and the development of museums and cultural facilities. He is active in the field of public education through the teaching of heritage and cultural resource management courses, and his interest in conservation has led to his continuing involvement with a number of heritage societies. In 2007, he was elected to the College of Fellows of the RAIC. In 2020, he was accepted as a PhD candidate at the University of Exeter.

William McLean. William graduated from McGill's School of Architecture in 1974, then practised architecture and environmental graphic design in Ottawa and Vancouver. Through his firms Gallop/McLean and Campbell McLean Design Limited he contributed to Expo 86 and other high-profile projects in western Canada. In 1992 he earned an LL.B. degree from UBC and created a new career as a construction lawyer, which he continued until his 2013 retirement from the firm McLean & Armstrong. William appeared in every level of court, including in the Supreme Court of Canada, and also represented clients in mediation and arbitration settings. He has been a director of both the West Vancouver Community Arts Council and the West Point Grey Community Centre Association, and currently serves the architectural profession as a member of AIBC's Investigation Committee.

Michael Prokopow. Michael is an historian, educator, critic and curator. He writes about material culture, art, aesthetics and the built environment. His teaching areas include visual culture, critical theory, and curatorial practice. His recent publications include a study of the British painter Hurvin Anderson, an extended essay on British artist Thomas J. Price and a consideration of the work of decolonizing design history in the context of Canadian modernism. Other work includes on the second house Arthur Erickson designed for the artists Gordon and Marion Smith (the seventh book in the UBC SALA / ORO West Coast Modern House series). Currently he is working on a study of contemporary residential architecture in BC and a survey of Canadian design after 1945. He sits on the board of the Canadian Society of Decorative Arts, the National Dett Chorale, the editorial board of Studio Magazine and the C Magazine National Advisory Council. Michael is a faculty member at OCAD University in Toronto.

Simon Scott. Following architectural studies in England, Simon emigrated to Canada and met Arthur Erickson in 1965. He then joined Erickson Massey Architects. In 1972-73 he worked in Rome with the late Roloff Beny on his book “In Italy”. Returning to Canada Simon photographed for, and designed, the book “The Architecture of Arthur Erickson” and was awarded the American Institute of Graphic Arts design award. Simon then formed his own firm to pursue architectural photography, graphics and presentation. He continued his work with Erickson’s office and other Canadian and US firms, providing architectural photography and publishing. His work has been exhibited in many local exhibitions and at the Royal Canadian Academy of Art and published worldwide. Simon was with Arthur two days before he died, a forty-four year association.

Mahmoud Virani. Mahmoud is a global citizen, of Indian heritage, born in Tanzania and completed his education in England where he qualified as a Chartered Professional Accountant, with a CPA designation. Mahmoud came to Canada in 1976 and worked with a couple of international firms where he ended up as one of the youngest partners at Grant Thornton. He moved on in 1991 and opened his own practice to focus on the not-for-profit and small business sectors. He has been the Chair of Finance Committee/Director of Finance for several organizations. He has travelled widely, including taking trips to Afghanistan and Cambodia with an NGO. Mahmoud has also developed a curriculum and delivered online classes for NPOs at British Columbia Institute of Technology.

Elizabeth Watts. Liz brings broad experience as a landscape architect in consulting, public service and academia, having worked for Bing Thom Architects, the UBC Landscape Architecture Program, TransLink, and in private practice. Her work has ranged from heritage advocacy, residential design and sustainable landscapes, to urban design with a focus on bringing active transportation to the public realm of our cities. In 1992 Liz rallied nation-wide support to stop the distress sale of Arthur's house and garden due to his financial insolvency. She led the establishment of a charitable organization dedicated to preserving his unique house and garden as a heritage site, which has now grown to become the Arthur Erickson Foundation with its larger mission. Liz is passionate about promoting Arthur Erickson’s legacy to Canada and the world.


Interested in finding out more? Contact us or Get Involved.