The Construction Source

Prior to starting Ha 2 , Houry graduated from the University of Montreal’s Architecture Faculty. From there, she spent six yearsworking for someof the most notable firms in Montreal, then a year working for a more boutique firm in the Turks and Caicos. She returned to Canada armed with plenty of experience in both the design and business sides of architecture, and the goal of starting her own firm. After moving to Ottawa, Houry started her first contract – a customhome– inearly2009. She was excited by the opportunity to work with a client one-on- one and take their project from concept to construction. She found she enjoyed the process, and the finished product ended up receiving a lot of attention, earning her the chance to do several more projects in the neighbourhood. “One job led to another,” Houry recalls. “The next thing I knew there was another home lined up, then another renovation, then another home. Pretty soon I had a nice portfolio of work.” In the years that followed, Ha 2 Architectural Design forged a reputation for doing unique, high quality, “outside-the-box” custom homes, renovations, and additions. Houry made it a point to “push every boundary I could within the framework of what the site and the city allowed” – while still meeting the needs of the client’s lifestyle MARCH 2021 That recent award- winning project, The Galleria, was the culmination of several years of hard but rewarding work. Houry started working with the client in 2016, and from the start she knew they were on the same page.