KPMB co-founders Marianne McKenna and Shirley Blumberg honored with 2025 RAIC Gold Medal

The recipients of this year’s RAIC Gold Medal are the KPMB Architects co-founders Marianne McKenna and Shirley Blumberg. Their rare dual recognition by the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada (RAIC) comes after 37 years in practice in Toronto alongside Bruce Kuwabara, who said: “They have each shaped the trajectory of our practice and profoundly influenced the architectural landscape in Canada and beyond.”

"Together, Marianne McKenna and Shirley Blumberg represent the pinnacle of architectural practice in Canada. Their unwavering dedication to innovative design, community engagement, and social equity not only enriches the profession but also serves as a source of inspiration for countless architects and designers," architect Omar Gandhi said in their official RAIC announcement.

Both were credited specifically with the development of BEAT (or Building Equality in Architecture Toronto), a grassroots initiative to promote equality for women and minorities in the profession with multiple chapters in Canada. McKenna was praised further for community-focused work that has expanded internationally to earn both her and the firm acclaim in the form of a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Design Futures Council and hundreds of others. 

Innovations in the performing arts and higher education sectors also set her apart and were mentioned for their "sophisticated approach and steadfast commitment to meaningful, regenerative architectural solutions." McKenna holds a master's degree from the Yale School of Architecture and began practicing with Barton Myers & Associates in Canada in 1980.

Like her colleague, Blumberg is a former Barton Myers associate who has also pointedly infused social justice into her practice successfully throughout much of her career. She received an AIA Honor Award and a RIBA International Award during that time for projects such as the Centre for International Governance Innovation Campus in Waterloo. Blumberg's efforts also helped guide KPMB to a recent major commission for the Montreal Holocaust Museum's forthcoming expansion, and she has continued to work around solutions to affordable housing challenges after being named as one of the 'top five women in world architecture' by CNN in 2018.

The RAIC Board of Directors wrote the following of the 2025 Gold Medalists in their official citation: 

Shirley Blumberg and Marianne McKenna are visionary architects whose work showcases design sensitivity, technical excellence, and foresight in sustainability, reflecting a deep understanding of spaces. Their architectural contributions are both beautiful and meaningful, impacting Canadian and international landscapes. Through platforms like BEAT, they promote equity, diversity, and inclusion and have paved the way for women and other practitioners from diverse backgrounds. 

Blumberg and McKenna are consistently generous in sharing what they've learned with students through their academic work, and through professional mentoring of emerging architects and other colleagues in smaller specialty, or otherwise diverse, firms. Innovating business structures, their leadership and dedication continue to shape the profession, challenging the status quo and broadening perspectives, establishing a legacy in education, practice, and social reform.

The RAIC Gold Medal was first established in 1967. McKenna and Blumberg join Indigenous rights activist Justice Murray Sinclair (2024); the late Claude Provencher (2023); and Jerome Markson (2022), as its four most recent recipients.