The Construction Source

JULY 2020 FAAS Architecture was founded by partners Michael Farrer and James Andalis. Both have many years’ experience working on projects across North Ameri- ca, and have garnered recog- nition for design excellence, sustainable design, and urban planning. Prior to teaming up, both held prestigious roles with other institutions – James was Managing Partner of an inter- national, award-winning firm, for example, while Michael was an instructor at the University of Calgary as well as the project architect for many prominent place-making projects. Michael and James met working at a previous firm, where they worked together for several years before going their sepa- rate ways. They kept in touch, however, and later they collabo- rated on a mixed-use inner-city project commissioned by a friend. “We realized we were having more fun working together on that project than at our day jobs,” Michael recalls. In November, 2013, the pair officially formed FAAS Architec- ture with the goal of building a company that would focus on the “project management and execution side.” They had pre- viously spent much of their ca- reers in design-centric offices, so they had a lot of exposure to design, and they experienced a lot of success, but they were typically a step removed from the actual delivery. They felt there was room for improve- ment in “how projects were ex- ecuted while still maintaining a high level of design.” “That’s what we wanted to focus on with FAAS,” Michael says. “We wanted to make sure that a high percentage of our projects actu- ally got built, and got built to a really high standard. That’s why we got into the industry in the first place – to create buildings, not just paper architecture. ” In the years since, FAAS Archi- tect has proved their capabili- ty on a broad range of project types, and worked in a variety of industry sectors. They have done everything from industri- al to educational, healthcare, residential, commercial, mixed use and institutional, as well as large-scale infrastructure and master planning. According to Michael, those cli- ents – no matter who they are, Buildings that get built