Michael Taylor has spent more than three decades designing homes that respond closely to their sites, their materials and the people who live in them. A registered architect since 1993 and a graduate of the Harvard Graduate School of Design, he co-founded Taylor Smyth Architects in 2000, developing an award-winning residential practice recognized in Canada and internationally.

Michael Taylor Architecture + Design continues that body of work under his sole direction. Based in Toronto, the boutique firm integrates architecture and interiors within a single creative vision, with Taylor remaining personally involved from the first consultation through construction. Working alongside senior associates Marco Bonatti and Brian Harmer and architectural intern Benjamin Bomben, the practice creates custom urban residences, lakefront properties and cottages through a process shaped by research, discussion and detailed 3-D modelling. In this interview, Taylor reflects on the experiences, principles and relationships that have defined his career, and on the legacy he hopes to build through Michael Taylor Architecture + Design.

What first drew you to architecture, and which early experiences or influences shaped the kind of architect you hoped to become? 

At quite a young age, I was captivated by stories of ancient civilizations, pouring over illustrated books that my parents gave me about archeological excavations of the ruins of Babylon, Egypt, Crete and Greece and the reconstructed drawings of their lost cities.

I spent my high school years living in London, England with my family, and we travelled extensively in Europe. This opened my mind further to the history and breadth of great world architecture. I can remember visiting churches and castles in England, cathedrals and palazzos in Europe, the Parthenon in Athens, as well as modernist buildings by Le Corbusier in France, and marvelling about the variety and artistry of each one.

This was the beginning of my fascination with the practice of architecture – with natural materials and fine craftsmanship, with texture and light, and with the contribution great buildings make to our lives over generations.

Looking back over more than three decades in the profession, how has your understanding of architecture evolved, and which principles have remained constant throughout your career? 

The importance of sustainable design was in its infancy in the 1990s when I started out with my own practice. Over the years, I’ve developed an increasing awareness of my responsibility as an architect to the health of our environment. It’s a sobering thought that buildings and construction account for more than 30% of global energy related CO₂ emissions. The good news is that substantial emissions reductions are achievable today through passive design, material optimization and renewable energy, and I try to achieve these measures wherever I can.

Straight out of school, I was fortunate to work for an accomplished architecture firm that held design to a high standard — where everyone shared responsibility for making buildings that contribute to the quality and health of the city around them. I’ve never let go of that idea: that a building owes something to more than its owner.

How did your education at the Harvard Graduate School of Design (GSD) influence the way you approach design, problem-solving, and the relationship between architecture and its broader context? 

I entered the GSD master’s program with a four-year liberal arts degree from the University of Chicago, where their “Core” curriculum spanning nine fields, taught in small seminars from primary texts, gave me a broad intellectual foundation I’m very thankful that I had this experience before focusing on architecture because that is where I learned how to think about the world in an analytical way.

My education at the GSD taught me how to begin thinking about a design holistically, and how to work it out by hand, before computers. I love the facility of computer-aided design and 3-D drawing we use today, but I think something has been lost now that many young architects don’t explore ideas through hand sketching. I remember a professor at the GSD who told us never to erase anything – just lay another sheet of trace over the previous sketch and develop the idea further. This way of generating concepts through layered information has informed my approach to design ever since.

You co-founded Taylor Smyth Architects in 2000 and built an award-winning residential practice over the following 26 years. What were the most important lessons from that chapter of your career, both creatively and as a business leader? 

Taylor Smyth Architects started with just me, my business partner and one employee. Within a few months we’d hired two more people, and as the practice grew we needed a way to bring new staff and consultants up-to-speed quickly. So we prepared a document setting out our quality standards and working procedures that everyone worked from. This was more than just an office manual – it contained a wide range of useful information ranging from barrier free standards to OAA regulatory notices and City Bylaws.

A key lesson was how to make projects profitable. Design doesn’t develop in a straight line, and in a creative profession there’s always the temptation to keep giving a project time well past what the fee covers. We had to learn to set a fee that was both realistic and competitive. That begins with the first conversation we have with the client before the fee is even quoted — understanding what they want to achieve, and being clear about the value our work brings, so the fee is understood as appropriate rather than something to negotiate

Michael Taylor Architecture + Design represents both a continuation of that legacy and a new chapter under your sole direction. What prompted this evolution, and what did you want to preserve, reconsider, or approach differently? 

Three years before I founded Michael Taylor Architecture + Design, my partner at Taylor Smyth Architects told me he wanted to retire. We discussed various scenarios for how to make the transition and ultimately decided to close the practice, and I would open a new firm.

I was fortunate to be able to bring with me a number of experienced staff members, two of whom I had been working with for over 16 years, along with a talented intern architect who I’d been mentoring since he started with me in 2019. Keeping a team with a history of having worked together was important – the work that I do is only as good as the people I work with. I also brought projects with me, both on the boards and in construction. My approach has basically remained unchanged – hands-on and client focused.

MTA+D emphasizes a highly personalized process, with you remaining closely involved from the first client consultation through construction. Why is that direct involvement important to you, particularly as an architecture practice grows and evolves? 

I entered this profession because I am passionate about design, so my challenge has always been to ensure that I balance the requirements of running a successful practice with making time to focus on the projects, and that I live up to my commitment to my clients to be hands-on, leading the design and attending all client meetings.

Projects such as House on the Bluffs, Bishop Street Residence, Russell Hill Road Residence, and Percy Lake Cottage respond to very different sites and personal circumstances. Is there one project that particularly changed your thinking as an architect, and what did it teach you? 

That’s a tough question. Every house I do is a little like raising a child – you nurture it and watch it take shape, then send it out into the world with qualities all its own. Each one teaches me something I carry into the next, so it’s hard to single out just one. But I had to, it would be the Russell Hill Road Residence, which gave me the chance to explore how a contemporary design can be a good neighbour – how it can complement the architecture of traditional homes without resorting to imitation. In this case, we used the same façade cladding of Indiana Limestone with a base of local split faced stone as in many of the surrounding houses. The vertical dimensions of the windows also follow conventional proportions, and projecting stone window surrounds and a stone cornice give the façade a sense of depth.

Digital modelling and emerging technologies are changing how architects develop and communicate ideas. How do you use these tools to deepen client participation while ensuring that technology does not replace intuition, conversation, and human judgment? 

We create detailed 3-D models and video flythroughs of all our projects that enable our clients to visualize their home both from both the outside and the inside. We can quickly explore different configurations and materials for the façade and as we develop the design, we add furniture, lighting and artwork to the interiors so the client can understand how it will feel to live in the house.

The model also allows us to track the path of the sun throughout the day and in different seasons, which can inform the amount of glazing and the use of overhangs to shade the interior, important considerations for passive sustainable design that can help reduce heat gain in summer and collect heat in winter. This information is presented to the client to help them make informed decisions.

Often, design breakthroughs emerge during client meetings where the 3-D model is used to test out ideas in real time. This allows them to truly engage as collaborators in the development of the design and work with us to explore options and refinements of the details.

After more than three decades in architecture, how do you now define success? Is it recognition, the longevity of a building, the client’s experience, the strength of the team, or something less easily measured? 

With a legacy of built projects, success, for me, is staying in touch with the people whose houses I’ve built or renovated, and hearing that they still feel delight every time they walk through the door. It’s also the clients who come back because that tells me we did things right the first time. I have one client for whom we have built three houses over the past 15 years. Several others have hired us to design their cottage and then come back to use to do their home in the city. Currently, I’m adding an elevator to a house we completed in 2001. With her children grown up, the owner told me she has more space than she needs, but she loves the house too much to downsize so we’re adapting the house to the life she has now.

Looking ahead, what do you want Michael Taylor Architecture + Design to become, and what lasting contribution would you like your work to make to residential architecture in Canada and beyond? 

Looking ahead, I want to continue to stay involved in every project, from the first conversation to the last detail. That is only possible at a boutique scale, and I would rather hold the practice there than grow past the point where it works. Attracting clients who want that kind of involvement matters more to me than the number of projects we take on.

We recently released HOME, a digital coffee table book of our favourite residential projects from the past twenty-five years. The houses share a dedication to craft and materiality, but each takes its form from its site, its program and the people who live in it. That is what I would like to leave behind — a timeless, thoughtful body of work in which each house comes from those three things rather than from the latest trend.

Conclusion 

Michael Taylor’s answers reveal a practice shaped by continuity: sustained client relationships, a long-standing commitment to craft and materiality, and an evolving responsibility toward sustainable design. As Michael Taylor Architecture + Design begins its next chapter, Taylor’s priority is to preserve the direct involvement that has defined his work, keeping the firm at a scale where every project can be developed with care from the first conversation to the final detail. The result is an architecture intended to remain relevant to its setting and meaningful to the people who live with it over time. For more information, visit mtaylorarch.com.

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