About Us | Draxalon Quinthos Architecture

Our Story

Look, we didn't start this firm just to add another cookie-cutter practice to Vancouver's skyline. Back in 2012, after watching too many beautiful neighborhoods get swallowed up by soulless glass boxes, we figured someone had to do things differently.

The whole "sustainable architecture" thing wasn't just some marketing angle for us – it came from actually caring about what we're leaving behind. We've spent years learning how buildings breathe, how spaces shape the way people live, and honestly, how to make green design stop looking like it's trying too hard.

These days, we're a team of 14 folks who've worked everywhere from heritage restorations in Gastown to cutting-edge residential towers in Yaletown. What ties us together? We're all kinda obsessed with making spaces that don't just look good in photos but actually work for the people using them every single day.

What Drives Us

Real Sustainability

Not the greenwashing kind. We're talking passive house standards, material lifecycles, and designs that'll still make sense in 50 years. Our buildings actually perform the way the specs say they will.

Context Matters

Every neighborhood's got its own rhythm. We spend time walking around, talking to locals, understanding what makes a place tick before we even think about sketching something up.

Honest Materials

Wood that looks like wood, concrete that owns being concrete. We're not trying to fake anything here – materials should celebrate what they actually are instead of pretending to be something else.

Human Scale

Buildings are for people, not Instagram. We obsess over how light moves through a room at 7am, whether the kitchen counter height actually works, if there's a spot for muddy boots.

The People Making It Happen

Maria Draxalon

Principal Architect & Co-Founder

Spent 8 years in Copenhagen learning how the Scandinavians do it before bringing that sensibility back home to Vancouver. Maria's the one who'll fight for that extra window or argue about lumber sources for hours – because details actually matter. She's got this thing about natural light that borders on obsessive, but honestly, it's why our spaces feel the way they do.

Specializes in: Residential projects, heritage integration, material research

James Quinthos

Principal Architect & Co-Founder

The technical brain behind our sustainable systems. James can tell you exactly how much embodied carbon is in that beam or why the HVAC layout needs to shift three feet west. Started out in urban planning, which is why he's always thinking about how our buildings fit into the bigger picture. Won't shut up about passive house certification, but in the best possible way.

Specializes in: Sustainable systems, urban planning, commercial projects

Sophie Chen

Senior Designer

Joined us straight from UBC and immediately started challenging how we think about interior flow. She's got this knack for seeing spatial relationships that others miss.

David Okonkwo

Heritage Specialist

Came to us from a restoration firm in Montreal. David's the guy who can look at old joinery and figure out exactly what the original builder was thinking back in 1920.

Priya Mehta

Project Manager

The person who actually makes sure stuff gets built on time and on budget. Priya's saved more projects from disaster than we can count, usually with a spreadsheet and dry wit.

Rachel Kim

Sustainability Consultant

Does all the LEED and energy modeling that makes our sustainable claims actually legit. Rachel's also teaching part-time at BCIT, so she keeps us honest about emerging tech and methods.

Marcus Torres

Visualization Specialist

Turns our sketches and models into renderings that help clients actually see what we're proposing. Also does killer drone footage of completed projects that doesn't look like every other architecture video out there.

Want to Work With Us?

We're always up for interesting projects – whether it's a single-family reno or a full commercial build. Coffee's usually on, and we love talking through ideas before anything's set in stone.

Get In Touch