Sustainable

As a home builder in the GTA over the last 30 years, our experience with Paul and his team at Sustainable T.O. was a pleasure to work with. The systems that have been implemented into this home are superior to all designs that I have built to date. If anyone is looking for a design that incorporates efficiency and sustainability I would heartily recommend Paul and his team their next project.

Paul Dowsett and his team at sustainable.to (s.to) have been awesome to work with !
Based on the experience we have had with Paul and his team at s.to on our new home build, I can candidly say that if you plan to build a new home or renovate an existing home with green and sustainable features, then s.to should definitely be on your candidate list of prospective architects to be reviewed for your project.
Paul has assembled a knowledgeable, focused and energetic team that will apply green and sustainable technology to meet your build requirements.
Our goal was to build a home with green and sustainable features. Based on the meetings and project portfolio review of the prospective architects we had interviewed, it was obvious from the onset that Paul Dowsett and the s.to team would be the architect of choice for our project.
From the initial design concept to the planning stage through to the building process and post build stage, s.to monitored the entire build process to ensure the home was being built as planned per the approved architectural drawings.
When issues or discrepancies arose on site with the "as built" condition, s.to were always expeditious to respond with alternative options and proposals which allowed the home build to continue without any lost timing in the build cycle.
s.to always responded to our enquiries in a timely manner. They applied industry "best practices" in their design proposals.
Paul is very well networked in the green and sustainable building marketplace (residential and commercial). As such, he has access to a large knowledge base which definitely is beneficial to his clientele.
Throughout the design and planning process, the s.to team carefully listened to our design criteria. They were able to translate our criteria and vision into a purposeful and functional home design that meets our family lifestyle and expectations. A job well done !

Thank you Paul Dowsett, Donald Peckover and the s.to team for your professionalism, efforts and continued support and assistance.
We made the right choice with s.to

S & D

We are a start-up business in downtown Toronto and required architectural design for a commercial space. Being a start-up business, we are cautious of engaging a firm that we can trust, a firm that can cater to our needs and a firm that operates with full transparency. Sustainable.To has been able to achieve this and more. We were introduced to Paul and Steve, and right away, they were able to demonstrate their extensive experiences with commercial properties. We were impressed.

They worked with us every step of the way, being completely transparent as to what is included within their statement-of-work, and delivered the very specific services that we were looking for. They helped us maximize our space layout and even offered suggestions along the way to creatively help us solve our specific business concerns. What really impressed us was that although we are considered a “smaller client,” we felt like we were treated like one of their biggest clients.

I wish you guys success in the many years to come. You have the formula for success: a client’s first attitude. Our team highly recommends Sustainable.To. Amazing team!!

We had a very positive experience with Paul and Steve at Sustainable.TO. We came to them for plans for major renovation of a three-story semi plus basement. The most impressive thing about them was creativity in solving small design problems, often done in real time while we met to review plans. We couldn't imagine how we'd manage to include an ensuite bathroom for the master bedroom, and the approach they came up with was brilliant. They also helped us find third parties to figure out whether spray foam was right insulation for us, and identify a contractor (we went with one of three they recommended).

The team at Sustainable were amazing to work with! Through efficient use of space, we were able to get a full demonstration kitchen, retail, dining, reception, and office, into 650 square feet. And it's like a second home to me!

I wrote a review in 2011 when we remodelled our basement and I ended saying we would work with sustainable again. Well, we have just completed a major renovation, new kitchen, new bathroom, etc. It is fantastic. The design is really unique and allows us to maintain the character of our home while adding tons of mod cons and cupboards!! Paul, Steve and the team was great to work with.

June 9, 2013

My wife and I were introduced to Paul Dowsett and his team of professionals at SUSTAINABLE.TO by our general contractor. From the outset of our initial meeting, Paul listened carefully and patiently to our ideas and vision for the design of our new main bathroom to replace our original bathroom in our 1926 tudor style home in the Beaches area of Toronto. We found that Paul as the principal architect and his assigned junior colleague, Sean Maciel worked well together and were extremely knowledgeable and easy to deal with in terms of meeting our expectations. Paul proved to have a wonderful sense of design. The project itself was much more complicated than we originally thought it would be because of our desire to have the bathroom totally updated and modernized while maintaining the integrity of the “original style” and architectural features of the old bathroom that would be in keeping with the age of the home. This resulted in a complete demolition of the bathroom and the addition of a heated floor, movement of the plumbing, the design of a “floating vanity” and the installation of a stand-alone shower in addition to a stand-alone bathtub. Paul made excellent suggestions as to updating the floor and wall tiles, lighting, custom designed vanity and bathroom fixtures while maintaining our home’s architectural features.
Paul and his team attempted to incorporate our suggestions into the design wherever possible. He accompanied us to shop for lighting fixtures, vanity finishes and components as well as floor and wall tiles. They were also very helpful in making excellent suggestions to improve upon our design concepts which in turn resulted in our achieving a new bathroom that was both beautiful and functional.
Paul’s greatest contribution and the most time consuming aspect of the design work involved the design of a custom made floating vanity that incorporated all of the practical features that we wanted in this important piece of bathroom furniture including storage and an oversized sink with two faucets. Paul and his team brought considerable imagination and excellent suggestions to the planning and design details that we would not have otherwise thought about that in the end significantly improved the overall functionality of the finished product. This particular aspect of the job involved Paul and Sean working closely and effectively with the vanity manufacturer’s in-house designer. There were many telephone discussions, e mails and meetings among ourselves, Paul, Sean and the manufacturer’s designer to ensure that the final design met all of our objectives and specifications.
Paul’s sense of design, colour and finish was definitive and “right on” in terms of our making the correct decisions that combined functionality with the overall look that we were trying to achieve with our new bathroom. Paul is a real gentleman who is extremely pleasant to work with in addition to being a very talented architect. Finally he is always available via e mail even in the evenings and weekends to review our suggestions and provide us with important input. It was a real pleasure dealing with Paul and Sean and we would not hesitate to recommend SUSTAINABLE.TO to anyone.

Brock and Elsie Grant

I worked with Craig Race and Sustainable.TO on the design and development approval of my laneway house in east end of Toronto.

Throughout the process, Craig and the entire Sustainable team were extremely professional in their approach. We were able to work closely together to formulate an attractive and sensible plan for the site, accomplishing my design and liveability goals while enhancing the built form neighbourhood. The project also created a sound example of how and where laneway housing can work effectively to densify Toronto's lowrise neighbourhoods in a way that is beneficial for all. Their guidance on energy conservation technologies and building techniques created a very efficient building, despite budgetary constraints. Paul's experience and articulation at the Committee of Adjustment was instrumental in securing the necessary variances required for redevelopment. In short, Sustainable.TO did a fantastic job on my project and I look forward to working with them again in the future.

I would highly recommend Craig, Paul and the entire team at Sustainable.TO for all your architecture and building design needs.

We hired Paul at Sustainable.to to design the gut of our 3-storey Riverdale home. He really understood our needs and design sense. Paul made a number of suggestions that we thought were "off-the-wall" to start (such as putting the kitchen in the front of the house, and an all-metal roof), all of which we now love.

Paul and Donald also worked hard to work around a number of the building permit issues related to the Committee of Adjustments and various zoning issues, which we would not have been able to figure out ourselves.

We're thrilled with our new house and would recommend Paul, Donald and Sustainable.to.