At BOP, we believe in the value of “eating your vegetables” — embracing the hard, foundational work that is essential to great architecture. Before diving into bold design ideas, we focus on fully understanding the basics: the client’s needs, technical requirements, site conditions, budgets, and regulations. This early, detailed work is critical. It grounds our creativity and ensures that our designs are not only inspiring but also practical and achievable.

By carefully studying every detail and asking the right questions from the start, we build a solid framework for innovation. This method helps us avoid trying to fit a square shape into a round hole later — preventing costly revisions and design conflicts down the line. It ensures that ideas are shaped with clarity and precision, resulting in architecture that functions well and stands the test of time.

For us, this disciplined approach is as important as the most exciting design moments. We meet the challenges of the technical groundwork with curiosity and dedication, knowing that without mastering these essentials, the best ideas can’t thrive. At BOP, doing the hard work upfront is what enables us to deliver thoughtful, successful architecture every time.

In a world that values perfection and polish, it’s easy to wait — for the right time, more clarity, or a flawless plan. But true understanding comes from doing. A bias to action — moving forward without all the answers — is key to growth and problem-solving. Action builds momentum. It turns ideas into real experiences and offers feedback that thinking alone can’t.

Mistakes aren’t failures; they’re essential lessons. Acting reveals what works and transforms uncertainty into insight.

Often, waiting hides fear — of failure or judgment. But it also keeps us stuck. Action is how artists find their voice, how leaders earn trust, how problems get solved.

The answers aren’t found — they’re created through doing. The path becomes clear only when you walk it. In a world where failure can seem riskier than success, trust the process. Acting in good faith toward a shared goal leads to real progress. At BOP, we value thoughtful boldness and admire those willing to take the first step.

BOP Walks are an essential part of how we engage with the built environment. They are not just walks — they are exercises in observation, reflection, and connection. In our day-to-day routines, we often pass by buildings, streets, and public spaces without truly seeing them. BOP Walks challenge us to slow down, take notice, and actively engage with the places that surround us.

These walks help us sharpen our awareness and expand our understanding of context — an essential part of thoughtful design. By observing how buildings are used, how people move through spaces, and how areas change over time, we notice details and relationships that are often overlooked. We learn to appreciate the ordinary as well as the extraordinary. Through our walks we observe details, patterns, and solutions that we would have otherwise looked right past had we not taken the time to pause.

A key part of BOP Walks is hearing from others — inviting guests, experts, business owners, and community members to share their insights. Their stories help us understand the history, culture, and lived experience behind the places we explore. This deepens our understanding and reminds us that architecture is not just about form, but about people and their connection to place.

Ultimately, BOP Walks keep us grounded, curious, and connected to our cities, our craft, and to one another.

At BOP, we believe that doing good work is not a zero-sum game. Architecture thrives when great ideas circulate, when thoughtful design is recognized, and when success is shared. We see our peers not as competition to outpace, but as part of a broader community that collectively raises the standard of what architecture can be. When others succeed, we celebrate it — because their success strengthens the discipline, enriches the dialogue, and inspires us to push our own work further.

For us, critique is not simply about identifying flaws — it’s about engaging with integrity, generosity, and respect. It means recognizing and learning from what others do well, just as much as questioning and improving what can be done better. This requires a mutual respect and understanding, as well as confidence in knowing that we are on the same team at the end of the day. We cheer on the work we admire, not out of politeness, but because excellence deserves acknowledgment.

We are hesitant to disparage. Dismissing others is easy; what’s harder — and more valuable — is being open to being challenged, encouraged, and elevated by those around us. We are motivated by the talents of others — their success is our success — and it drives us to aim higher, dig deeper, and work harder to help share in shaping the built environment in a positive way.

Here at BOP, we understand our work as a practice. A professional isn’t someone who knows everything, but someone who shows up consistently, commits to growth, and understands that mastery is a lifelong process. In this view, the goal isn’t to be “done” but to keep improving, refining, and learning.

When we approach our work as practice, we shift our focus from outcomes to growth and professional development. We stop fearing mistakes and start seeing them as essential parts of learning.

This mindset allows us to be okay with not knowing everything, because we recognize that no one ever does—not even the experts. Everyone is always learning, no matter their level of experience. We learn from experience and carry it forward to the next project.

Embracing this way of thinking nurtures a growth mindset. It invites curiosity, patience, and resilience. It teaches us to value effort and reflection over immediate results, and to show up with humility and purpose.

Over time, this approach builds confidence—not from perfection, but from progress.

By treating work as ongoing practice, we lay the foundation for professional excellence. We become more engaged, open, and capable—driven not by the need to finish, but by the desire to grow.

At BOP, listening is at the core of our practice — but not in a passive or transactional sense. We understand that truly listening means engaging deeply, asking the right questions, and interpreting with care and clarity. Our role is not simply to deploy client directions, but to synthesize a wide spectrum of inputs — from clients, cities, residents, engineers, collaborators, and environments — and distill them into architecture that is meaningful and enduring.

Listening for us is an active process. It involves filtering and contextualizing what we hear, understanding not only what is said but what is unsaid, and aligning it with broader project goals and realities. We are careful not to let the first or loudest voices dominate. Instead, we lean in — to quieter perspectives, to those still forming, to those that haven’t yet found a seat at the table.

We also listen for the voices that are not yet present — future users, overlooked communities, emerging needs. These imagined and anticipated perspectives are just as important as those voiced in the room. By being critical and comprehensive in our research and engagement, we ensure that our designs are not only responsive, but inclusive, thoughtful, and built to serve with intelligence and care.

Project Partner: Elkplan Design (Urban Design & Illustrations)

Our entry for the Urbanarium’s Mixing Middle design competition, entitled ‘Business in My Front Yard’ (BIMFY), proposes a new way think about under-densified single-family neighbourhoods by permitting retail and commercial use in these typically residential-only areas.

Residents can now build ‘tiny towers’ up to five storeys on their property that support additional uses like cafes or bistros, fitness activities, child care, retail, office space, and artist studios. This idea celebrates mixed use as a way to increase vibrancy, social connection, and affordability for all, while maintaining a low barrier to implementation and supporting community-driven initiatives as a way to transform our urban spaces.

Design of public and private spaces should promote multiple aspects of life including: making, learning, celebrating, and participating in local, small-scale economic activities.

Allowing for a collision of these core human activities within adaptively designed environments promotes sub-communities and unique shared urban experiences.

Successfully designed urban places include careful design of the social and mercantile aspects of the environment.

Democratizing as much space as possible in dense urban environments creates societies of mixed-views, mixed-cultures, and shared community.

Increasing the density of housing, shopping, recreating and working in mixed, shared environments, lowers crime and promotes tolerance and mutual experiences.

Increased walkability to multiple activities is a critical design component.

The street. A laneway. A cut-through pathway. Where you are standing, walking or sitting is an opportunity for community.

Music, laughter, art, dance, feasts, and protests are the experiences of great places. Great design promotes freedom and vitality in the public realm.