We do not design for our clients — we design with our clients.

As Managing Principal and the strategic designer in charge of Healthcare and major institutional projects, Wojciech has worked on each one of Kasian’s healthcare projects throughout British Columbia, as well as major institutional projects across Canada. His international experience encompasses residential and institutional projects in Italy and Poland, as well as restoration of heritage buildings, some of which date back to the 16th Century. He has learned that the final shape of what we build must be the result of a solid functional plan incorporating the viewpoints of everyone involved.

His more notable projects include the Empress Hotel restoration and Royal Jubilee Hospital in Victoria; the YVR Domestic Terminal Pier C expansion and BCIT Aerospace Technology Campus in Vancouver; Royal Inland Hospital in Kamloops; and Stanton Territorial Hospital in Yellowknife. He was awarded a fellowship from the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada, but he believes that awards are not the reason we do this job. When a nurse told him that the kids in her care could finally sleep through the night once they moved into the new Alberta Children’s Hospital his team created, that meant everything.

My Sectors: Healthcare & Transportation.

My Services: Architecture & Facilities Planning.

We asked, Wojciech Brus answered:

What drew you to architecture?

“I was supposed to be a doctor! I chose a completely different path to get away from the expectations placed upon me, and went into architecture. I loved drawing and painting, and architecture felt like the most artistic form of engineering. (In Poland, all architects must also qualify as engineers). I loved how the engineering and the art went together, and that came in handy years later when I got to draw all the details of the Empress Hotel restoration with pencil and paper. And now here I am designing hospitals!”

What inspires you?

“The expectations of the end user, and their reaction to the project. I love to hear when they say, ‘It works! We’re proud of this!’ A big part of a good design is a great process of collaboration with the client. That understanding and that connection is the basis for simultaneously developing each aspect of the project.”