Marianne McKenna

Canadian architect

Marianne McKenna, OC, FRAIC, OAA, OAQ, AIA, RIBA (born September 25, 1950) is a Canadian architect and a founding partner of KPMB Architects, a Toronto-based practice established in 1987. She is an invested Officer of The Order of Canada "for her contributions as an architect, designing structures that enrich the public realm".²

From Wikipedia’s article on Marianne McKenna (this version), CC BY-SA 4.0.

Born Sep 25, 1950.¹

About

McKenna has led a wide range of projects across the cultural, educational, business, hospitality, and science sectors in Canada and the United States. They include the renovation and expansion of The Royal Conservatory TELUS Centre for Performance and Learning and Koerner Hall (2010 Governor General's Medal), a renovation and expansion of the historic Massey Hall in Toronto, the design of the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, and a vertical campus building for The Brearley School, an independent all-girls school in New York City.

Her current projects include the Dramatics Art Building at Yale University, the Werklund Centre Transformation (formerly Arts Commons) in Calgary, 300 Bloor Street West in Toronto, the redevelopment of St. Monica's Parish in Toronto, and a series of purpose-built rental housing communities with developer Kindred Works in locations across Canada.

McKenna is a recipient of the King Charles III Coronation Medal and the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada's gold medal. In 2023, she received an honorary Doctorate of Arts degree from Swarthmore College. She was the first woman to receive a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Design Futures Council.

In 2010, McKenna was named one of Canada’s Top 100 Most Powerful Women. She has also been named one of Toronto’s top 50 Powerful People by MacLean’s Magazine, one of the 50 Most Influential Torontonians by Toronto Life, and one of 30 Essential Women in Architecture and Design by Azure Magazine.

From Wikipedia’s article on Marianne McKenna, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.²

Companies

KPMB ArchitectsFounder¹⁶

Early life and education

Date not recordedSwarthmore College³
Date not recordedYale School of Architecture³

McKenna was born in Montreal, Quebec in 1950. She graduated from The Study, a Canadian private education all-girls school in Westmount, Quebec in 1968 and was honoured by The Study in 2008 with the Judy Elder Alumna Award. To the students of The Study, she explained her choice to pursue architecture as follows: "I originally saw the profession as a balance between creative and business skills. I found out quite early that it is much more than that. It is a creative profession but requires the leadership skills of innovator, arbitrator, negotiator, communicator, along with strong design talent and business acumen. The pleasure of architecture is in the range of challenges that only increase from day to day."

McKenna is an alumnus of Swarthmore College (B.A. 1972) and has a Master of Architecture from Yale University (M.A., 1976), where she studied under architects Harry Cobb of Pei Cobb Freed & Partners and Charles Moore. At Yale University, she also met and became lifelong friends with then aspiring actress Meryl Streep. Streep shared insights on Marianne’s career as an architect in the 2014 documentary "Making Space: 5 Women Changing the Face of Architecture" and in the May 2025 issue of Canadian Architect magazine.

Upon graduation from Yale, McKenna worked for Bobrow & Fieldman, Architects in Montreal from 1976 to 1978 and Denys, Lasdun, Redhouse & Softely in London from 1978 to 1979. In 1980 she joined Barton Myers Associates (BMA) in Toronto and was made an associate the following year. At BMA she met her future partners, also associates of Myers: Bruce Kuwabara, Thomas Payne and Shirley Blumberg. Notable projects she worked on in this period include the Hasbro Inc. New York showrooms and 35 East Wacker Drive in Chicago.

From Wikipedia’s article on Marianne McKenna (this version), CC BY-SA 4.0.

Career

Occupation: architect.^{5 6}

Date not recordedFounded KPMB Architects⁴

Known for: Kitchener City Hall, John Molson School of Business, Grand Valley Institution for Women, McGill University and Génome Québec Innovation Centre, Koerner Hall, Toronto Metropolitan University, The Royal Conservatory of Music.^{7 8}

Personal life

BornSep 25, 1950, Montreal⁹
CitizenshipCanada¹⁰

Awards

2024King Charles III Coronation Medal^{11 14}
2023Honorary Doctor of Arts^{11 13}
Date not recordedOfficer of the Order of Canada^{11 12}

Sources

The numbers on this page point here. Each one links to the record it came from.

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WikidataMarianne McKenna on Wikidata
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WikipediaMarianne McKenna on Wikipedia
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WikidataMarianne McKenna: education, on Wikidata
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WikidataMarianne McKenna: Founded KPMB Architects, on Wikidata
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WikidataMarianne McKenna: occupation, on Wikidata
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Wikidataoccupation, as reported by archINFORM
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WikidataMarianne McKenna: notable work, on Wikidata
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Wikidatanotable work, as reported
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WikidataMarianne McKenna: place of birth, on Wikidata
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WikidataMarianne McKenna: citizenship, on Wikidata
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WikidataMarianne McKenna: award, on Wikidata
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Wikidataaward, as reported
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Wikidataaward, as reported
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Wikidataaward, as reported
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WikidataMarianne McKenna: Official website, on Wikidata
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WikidataKPMB Architects, Founder