B+H Architects appoints Global Sustainability Lead
A licensed architect and trained engineer, Holly applies a cross-disciplinary skillset and holistic sustainability approach to B+H’s global architecture, planning, landscape, and interior design projects.
Global design and strategy practice B+H has appointed principal Holly Jordan as the firm’s Global Sustainability Lead. With nearly 25 years’ experience transforming the built environment through progressive projects that have achieved passive house, LEED, and net-zero certifications, Holly will be tasked with leading the firm’s global sustainability initiatives and championing the integration of high performance design, low carbon solutions, technical innovations, complete communities and social equity across B+H’s global portfolio of sectors and clients.
“I’m honoured and excited to assume the role of Global Sustainability Lead. Having been a part of B+H since 2011, I intend to carry our reputation for progressive sustainable design forward. In my view, this extends beyond our project work to include our physical studios and our amazing talent that are the bedrock of our practice,” says Holly Jordan, Global Sustainability Lead with B+H.
Holly is uniquely adept at bridging the gap between the two disciplines, marrying architecture’s aesthetic and experiential qualities with technical performance. In her role, Holly will ensure that technical enhancements to prioritize sustainability and resiliency are integrated into the design of a project early in its lifecycle. To Holly, sustainability is not something to be “added” to a project, but instead requires close and ongoing collaboration with clients, consultants, and contractors. Doing so creates a better synergy between performance and design, ultimately yielding more successful projects.
“As designers, we have a responsibility to push ourselves to be unrelenting in how we consider the long-term impact of what and how we build. Holly impresses upon this with our team and our clients in a way that achieves high-performing buildings that will stand the test of time,” says Jamie Miller, Director of Biomimicry at B+H.
A former Director and Chair of the Advocacy Committee for the Canada Green Building Council (CaGBC) Toronto Chapter and an active advisor to B+H’s Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (JEDI) initiatives, Holly brings an awareness of the intersection of design, sustainability and resilience to her new leadership role. For Holly, sustainability is not solely about building performance, but instead encapsulates the built environment’s impact upon people.
Since joining B+H in 2011 (following two stints at the firm while a graduate student), Holly has helped realize some of the firm’s most successful and ambitious projects. The University of Windsor’s Ed Lumley Centre for Engineering Innovation, is a demonstrative hub that allows students to witness how systems perform over time. Humber College Building Nx achieved Passive House Certification and was the first retrofit in Canada to receive Zero Carbon Building–Design Certification by the CaGBC. Currently, Holly and B+H CEO Patrick Fejér are overseeing a masterplan for the Coquitlam Centre that will transform a 59-acre suburban shopping mall into a vibrant, mixed-use residential community that adheres to One Planet Living principles.
“For over a decade, Holly has demonstrated her depth of talent, pragmatism, leadership, and values. With her appointment as Global Sustainability Lead, I’m confident that Holly will further cement our position as a sustainability leader in Canada and abroad, while continuing to push our staff and clients to design progressive solutions to some of the world’s most pressing challenges,” says B+H CEO Patrick Fejér.
As Global Sustainability Lead, Holly will maintain her position as both a member of the Surbana Jurong Group Global Sustainability Council and on B+H’s Special Task Force.
About B+H
B+H is a global, award-winning consulting + design solutions firm. We leverage the core visualization and integration skills of an architecture and design practice to understand and articulate complex data into transformative solutions across a broad spectrum of sectors and services.
Founded on a nearly 70-year legacy of creating bold and inspiring spaces for people, B+H provides core architecture, planning, landscape, and interior design services. Today our team includes more than 450 curious designers, place makers, strategists, storytellers, and creative human beings who believe in embracing change and challenging the status quo to deliver resilient, healthy environments that make positive contributions to their communities and are characterized by vibrant human experiences.
Collaborating across 12 studios in Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Seattle, Los Angeles, San Diego, Dubai, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Hong Kong, Singapore & Ho Chi Minh City, B+H’s architects, interior designers, planners, landscape architects, organizational design specialists, experience designers, researchers, analysts, and brand strategists combine strategic thinking, bold design, and advanced technology with the creative human energy of an interdisciplinary, multigenerational team.
