5/13/2026|PLENARY|STRUCTURED
1.75 ConEd Learning Hours|8:30a.m.-10:15a.m.
After a special welcome to Conference delegates that highlights this year’s Collaboration Powering Innovation theme and runs down some of the exciting events planned over the two and a half days to follow, join Donald Schmitt—principal of Diamond and Schmitt Architects and member of the Order of Canada—to explore how a new generation of academic buildings in Ontario and beyond are serving as catalysts for innovation.
In this opening plenary, sponsored by Brampton Brick, he will look at how projects can speak to this topic.
His focus will be on York University’s new Markham Campus, which demonstrates how architecture can drive collaboration, innovation, and inclusion. Designed as a vertical campus, the project brings a collection of different programs together into a 10-storey building, supporting new pedagogies through interconnected spaces and work zones. This special plenary kicks off Conference in exploring how design can create an animated crossroads of learning, inquiry, and student engagement that supports the changing academic landscape and activates the community.
Learning Objectives
1. Examine the evolving model of academic architecture.
2. Examine how campus design can support different ways of learning.
3. Explore how design can bridge the gap between academia and community.
4. Assess how architecture can support a developing civic
identity.
Don Schmitt, OAA, NSAA, AAPEI, AAA, MAA, AIBC, NWTAA, AANB, AIA, SAA, FRAIC
Principal, Diamond Schmitt
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