After nearly half a century in operation, the Chamberlain Group of Companies pairs the crisp vitality of avant-garde architectural design and engineering with the unique insight of many years in construction. And it works. Chamberlain Architectural Services and Chamberlain Construction Services can offer architecture or construction services respectively, but the two companies are at their best when they come together to deliver a holistic vision.
Known for their technological mastery, these companies offer their clients a genuine edge—part architectural expertise, part construction skill. Bringing clients a rare depth of expertise in the two disciplines, the Chamberlain Group has made a name for itself among Canada’s best architectural design, construction, and interior design outfits.
Chamberlain has been managed for the past decade by a dynamic group of visionary young leaders, with partners Jon McGinn, Architect, NCARB, OAA; Linnea Chamberlain; and Steve Mauro, Architect, OAA, Architectural Principals; and Chris Mauro, Construction Principal. Adrian Mauro serves as CEO of the Construction company, with Chris and Ersilio Serafini as Vice Presidents. Rounding out the leadership team is Jackie Mauro, Interior Design Director. Together, they make for a formidable team that takes on the future afresh each day.
The group’s robust expansion, with its signature buildings elevating the skyline of the Greater Toronto Area, is the result of sheer hard work and strategic planning, and Chamberlain’s distinct value proposition is also prized by many longstanding customers throughout the rest of Canada and the United States.
By offering expertise in two distinct but synergistic disciplines, Chamberlain provides project owners with peace of mind, streamlined processes, and clear communication. While the two companies can and do operate individually in their respective fields, the ability to act as a one-stop shop where desired brings significant advantages. “When working for the same entity, you’re working together,” says Chris Mauro. “There are a lot of problems we solve for clients together behind closed doors. Clients really enjoy and appreciate that.”
The approach gives customers what Jon McGinn refers to as architectural design imbued with that invaluable quality: “construction thinking.” By ensuring that all parties are engaged from the outset on every project, this team of experts achieves simplicity through a professional cross-pollination of disciplines.
Based in Burlington, Ontario, Chamberlain is generously equipped with high-end technology, allowing it to render project specifications and budgets calculated to the finest detail. Completing 10 to 15 construction projects and 100 architectural projects annually, the team relishes the satisfaction of moving from one phase to the next on every job it handles.
Founded by Brian Chamberlain in 1978 as an architectural firm, Chamberlain Architect Services Limited welcomed its first employee and its second owner, Adrian Mauro, soon after. Unimpressed by the routine tussles of will and ways between contractors and architects, Chamberlain decided to distinguish his business by purchasing a contracting firm and introducing Chamberlain Construction to the market, eliminating the white noise of on-site bickering and offering clients an alternative to the traditional construction delivery method.
Today, the companies employ more than 50 individuals. With their legacy of precision, they provide customers with complete, accurate information aimed at maintaining high standards and eliminating costly errors before they occur. And while the two companies operate individually, giving customers the option to use one or the other or both, the model has served the group well for decades, making for a unique value proposition.
“Our goal as a company is to keep the project owner happy. The Construction and Architecture teams work toward the same goal,” McGinn says. This approach is singular, giving the group a real edge as direct competition is scant. “We don’t see our business model very often,” he confirms, emphasizing that when the two companies partner together, they see the best results. The beauty of this model is that once customers have been through the process on one project, finding they enjoy the methodology, they return for more of the same.
Partnering with Chamberlain Group of Companies gives clients added confidence by providing access to valuable cross-industry insights—leading to more informed and secure investments. Given the scale of the investments in play, Chamberlain’s deep industry expertise is not only reassuring but essential. At the same time, each project serves as a learning opportunity for both the group and its clients. Customers appreciate the inside knowledge that gives a clearer understanding of market conditions, unique construction challenges, and potential risks.
Best of all for Chamberlain, this high level of service delivery has secured its steady transformation in recent years. Over the past decade, both the Architecture company and the Construction company have transitioned from a hospitality focus, with more than 400 hotel projects and around 2000 restaurants throughout Canada and the United States) to working on more multi-family residential products. Chamberlain’s well-designed high-rises typically comprise 10 to 15-storey buildings in downtown Toronto. One of its proudest recent design and construction projects is Birchmount Green at 1236 Birchmount Road, an affordable housing project comprising 220 units across 16 storeys and 175,000 square feet in Toronto.
Other residential projects include Oakwood Manor, a four-storey long-term care facility in Niagara Falls featuring 288 bedrooms, and Carrying Place Vista at 2346 Weston Rd, a 15-storey, 154-unit residential building that pushed the envelope on both the Architecture and Construction sides. Housed on an extremely tight site with numerous restrictions, this project is a true testament to how the companies can pull off a truly exceptional project when they engage in a project together.
While the companies’ chief business is residential design and construction, the team still completes many hospitality projects, mainly thanks to customer referrals. One such recent project is the St. Thomas Holiday Inn Express, a 65,000-square-foot, five-storey facility boasting 95 suites, another great example of a challenging and unique project that truly thrived with the client’s utilization of both companies employed together.
And every so often, there are out-of-the-ordinary projects like that completed for the Joseph Brant Museum in Burlington. The Architecture firm was engaged in this 10,000-square-foot museum took tremendous planning as the replica of the original homestead had to be entirely transported off-site and returned following the construction of a subterranean addition to the museum complex, designed by Chamberlain.
The group also offers extensive interior design services. After learning the hard way just how much can go wrong when interior designers focus more on aesthetics than the integral design of the bones that underpin a final product, Chamberlain brought this discipline in-house, under Jackie Mauro’s direction.
Chamberlain sees the competition in the Interiors industry as largely surface-level, where designers want to step aside following the creation of a few pretty pictures. Conversely, McGinn notes, “Our incredible team, led by Jackie Mauro, pride themselves on accurate documentation; it is paramount to successful projects. There is a lot of money to be lost on interiors if they’re not documented correctly,” he says. “Being experts in documenting in the technical world translates well into documenting the interior world.”
He relates the disasters that loom when ceilings, for instance, are not documented correctly and interior designers try to suspend heavy light fittings from surfaces that cannot bear the weight. Such misunderstandings typically occur due to a lack of planning, leading to overspending on projects where owners try to cut costs by skipping thorough documentation during the design phases.
At Chamberlain, “We can come up with great designs and practical ways of executing them so that you get the pretty picture but without paying the ‘inexperienced’ price,” McGinn says. He points out how common it is for designers outside the firm to cost owners dearly by not understanding that what they create must dovetail with the specs of the space they’re working with from the outset to be successful. “We pride ourselves on this type of information being shared from day one, so there are no surprises,” he says. There’s a lot to be said for the foresight that comes with half a century of expertise.
The companies are so well known, in fact, for their outstanding documentation of designs that people have approached them to document other designers’ work before starting construction, realizing that, without this essential process, they are headed for an expensive disaster. Such service is only made possible with a dedicated and well-synchronized staff—a precious asset the group is tremendously proud of. Similarly, construction clients have approached Chamberlain with completed drawings, asking the Construction team to take on the role of third-party review prior to the start of a construction contract. The group applies its extensive knowledge in both worlds to better understand and decipher the drawings before the onset of tendering a project or commencing construction. Chris Mauro, along with Adrian Mauro, will typically lead the charge here, using their combined years of knowledge and engineering backgrounds to better break down the needs of the project and how to best deliver them.
Indeed, many of Chamberlain’s employees have been with the firm for two decades or longer. McGinn describes them as a work family that enjoys innovating together, as their synergy is a large part of their successful outcomes. People are encouraged to stay by being treated well. Moreover, the two companies’ leadership style is not one of micromanagement, and as a result, everyone is encouraged to evolve and freely expand their personal and professional horizons.
Being inspired by the creative process and perpetually birthing new ideas that take shape as buildings—usually to be used by hundreds of thousands over their lifetime—is deeply rewarding. And, because creating healthy communities is important to this firm, Chamberlain is dedicated to supporting organizations that make a difference in the community, like a project the group is currently completing in Hamilton for the SPCA. The team also supports Habitat for Humanity and proudly works on museums, libraries, community centres, and other projects made possible by local governments.
Looking forward to an increasingly technology-driven future within the architectural engineering and design industry, McGinn believes that software will only become more sophisticated as new suites are released ever faster. With a dedicated technology group continuously screening what is available and checking new releases for elements that suit its systems, Chamberlain remains an early adopter of innovation that gives it its market-leading edge.
In the ever-expanding suburbs across Canada, current trends also point toward a demand for more multi-family construction, with single-family housing slowing somewhat. As the companies continue to run on the boundary-pushing energy of committed leaders with many years ahead of them, McGinn foresees the team completing increasing numbers of larger development projects. The companies are also seeing further expansion into the long-term care sector in Canada while developing their overall presence in the southwest United States.
With such a sterling background, Chamberlain’s history of excellence can only assure top achievement in a highly competitive market. As both Mauro and McGinn see it, when considering current markets, project success for clients is dependent on a non-negotiable commitment to optimal transparency from the supplier, as Chamberlain provides to its clients. “It’s critical that you have a partner who knows what they’re doing in documenting and constructing.” Such an approach ensures success, as evidenced by this enduring and dynamic group of companies.
