About
Scott Torrance Landscape Architect Inc.
Scott Torrance Landscape Architect Inc., established in 2004, is a client-focused practice dedicated to providing the highest in client service and design excellence in the public, private and corporate sector.
The majority of our work is realized in the diverse urban fabric of Toronto: a city of 2.5 million people, with a dense tree canopy, cut by deep ravines and located on the shores of Lake Ontario. Our practice strives to augment and enrich the urban experience for people by connecting them to nature and enhancing site ecologies. We advocate strongly for planting native and non-invasive species, reusing storm water runoff, incorporating green roofs and increasing biodiversity in the urban environment.
We have demonstrated award-winning expertise in green roof design, abandoned rail corridors, brownfield redevelopment, multi-use trails, public parks, sustainable parking solutions, condominiums, private residences, institutions, public art and natural children’s play environments. We collaborate with some of Toronto’s leading architects and developers, working with them to meet project goals, sustainability targets, municipal approvals and construction delivery methods.
In order to provide our clients with the breadth of professional services today’s complex building projects require, our firm provides expertise in landscape architecture, arboriculture, urban ecology, LEED and green roof design.
Professional Affiliations
Ontario Association of Landscape Architects
Canadian Society of Landscape Architects
Green Roofs for Healthy Cities, Green Roof Professional
Canadian Green Building Council LEED Accredited Professional
International Society of Arboriculture
Selected Awards
2012 National Urban Design Award – West Toronto Railpath
2011 Toronto Urban Design Award of Excellence – West Toronto Railpath
2011 Ontario Association of Landscape Architects Carl Borgstrom Award for Service to the Environment
- Scott Torrance
2010 Design Exchange Award – Native Child & Family Services of Toronto Roof Garden
2010 Green Roofs for Healthy Cities – ESRI Canada’s Garden in the Sky
2010 Green Toronto Award – ESRI Canada Garden’s in the Sky
2009 Design Exchange Award – ESRI Canada’s Garden in the Sky
2009 Design Exchange Award – West Toronto Railpath
2006 Design Exchange Award – Downsview Memorial Parkette
Team
Scott Torrance, OALA, CSLA, GRP
Scott Torrance is a registered Landscape Architect and certified Green Roof Professional. He has extensive professional experience on projects of diverse scales and budgets for residential, commercial, institutional and municipal clients. Committed to collaboration, Scott has successfully completed several projects as a member of large consultant teams, implementing IPD (Integrated Project Delivery) and executing effective construction management.His experience and expertise in green roof design has been recognized by the City of Toronto, the Ontario Association of Landscape Architects and the Design Exchange. He has been invited to lecture on green roofs for architectural practices, professional associations including the OAA and OALA and the City of Toronto. In 2011 he led a distinguished team and authored a manual on promoting biodiversity in green roof design, commissioned by the City of Toronto. He is currently serving on the City’s green roof bylaw Technical Advisory Committee.Scott’s advocacy for sustainable design, native plants, green roofs and increasing the biodiversity in the urban environment garnered him the 2011 OALA Carl Borgstrom Award for Service to the Environment.
Passionate about the design of urban public space, Scott studied city and waterfront revitalization projects in Barcelona and Seville during the 1992 Olympics and World Fair. His passion for integrating culture and public space has led to collaborations with a number of artists including Stephen Cruise, Arlene Stamp, Jeannie Thib, Dora de Pédery-Hunt and John Dickson. He is a board member of the Design Industry Advisory Committee: a think tank and cross-disciplinary research group promoting the strategic value of design and the contribution of designers from all disciplines to economic, social and environmental goals.
Lei Chang, OALA, CSLA
Lei is a registered landscape architect with a Bachelor of Architecture from Nanjing University of Technology in Nanjing, China and an Master of Landscape Architecture from the University of Toronto. Prior to joining Scott Torrance Landscape Architect Inc. in 2007, she worked at Sasaki in Boston on the Singapore Botanical Garden international competition (with MVRDV) and the Cincinnati Waterfront project. Additionally, Lei worked as an interior designer for 5 years in Nanjing, China prior to pursuing landscape architecture and has worked on several high profile projects and developed a keen understanding for detail design and project management.
Lei brings a creative, professional approach to variety of projects, ensuring that each project elegantly resolves problems, innovates new possibilities, and runs smoothly from concept to construction. She has a wide range of experience with transit design and has worked on several TTC expansion projects. Lei brings her passion for innovative design to her work in public realm design and extensive park and open space project experience.
Svetlana Lavrentieva, OALA, CSLA, LEED AP
Svetlana is a registered Landscape Architect and LEED Accredited Professional. Svetlana’s passion for urban and landscape design has been the instigator for the wide range of professional experiences in the public and private sectors. She has demonstrated her excellence in project management and creative design in both landscape architecture and urban design projects. She has prepared conceptual master plans, technical drawings, presentation boards and study reports.
Svetlana’s professional experience includes projects in Canada, United States, and Russia. Her academic research and interests lie in public space design and its effect on human interaction. As a registered LEED AP, Svetlana has combined her passion for public realm with more ecological and sustainable design approach.
Jordan Wu, OALA, CSLA, LEED GA, ISA
Jordan is a registered Landscape Architect with specialty in New Neighbourhood and Transit Oriented Development. Over the course of his career Jordan has been involved in a number of residential, streetscape, parks and transportation planning projects throughout North America and internationally. He has provided innovative designs to both public and private sector clients and overseen projects from design through to contract administration.
Drawing from both academic and previous work experience, Jordan brings a wide variety of skills and capabilities to the firm’s projects. His passion for landscape architecture and sustainable design stresses the importance of and the effective balance between the functional and aesthetic within every project.
Victoria Bell, BLA, MUD
Victoria is a Landscape and Urban Designer with experience in public and private sector. Drawing on her work in assisted housing design and community engagement, she tackles design challenges with a balanced and inquisitive approach that respond to the context and character of every project.Victoria’s passion for creating and promoting sustainable urban public space (both ecologically and socially) has led her to locations around the world. Her academic research and interests focus on the role of infrastructure and public space as economic and social generators in at-risk populations.