The University of Waterloo School of Architecture is a leader in design education and research.
Offering a fully cooperative professional program, Waterloo Architecture is the only Canadian school of architecture to have a permanent international facility, which has operated since 1979 in Rome, Italy. The school attracts top students from across Canada and around the world and has been rated the greenest architecture curriculum in Canada.
Find out more about Waterloo Architecture.
News
Connecting the classroom to city-building
Adam Clark (BAS ’06, MArch ’09) has created a bridge between Waterloo classrooms and real-world city building. Through years of collaboration as a project client, guest lecturer, critic and mentor, the City of Kitchener urban designer has given students opportunities to tackle active planning challenges while bringing their research and ideas into municipal decision-making. That relationship has contributed to projects including Growing Together, Kitchener’s award-winning framework for growth around its ION light rail stations.
A Room of One’s Home
Masterworks 2026: A Room of One’s Home, curated by Bianca Weeko Martin, is currently on display at the Riverside Gallery, showcasing the graduate thesis works of six Waterloo Architecture alumni. Through drawings, counter-archival projects, and artifacts, the exhibition explores the complex intersections of diasporic identity, spatial memory, and migration. Rather than romanticizing diaspora, the projects ask critical questions about cultural endurance and how the built environment helps individuals reconnect with generational histories. This compelling collection invites visitors to experience how the spaces we call home carry forward communities and stories, running until October 1, 2026.
Students sweep national steel design competition
University of Waterloo architecture and engineering students claimed the top three prizes at the 2025-2026 Canadian Institute of Steel Construction (CISC) Architectural Student Design Competition. James Miller and Luke Carone won the Award of Excellence for Resonance, while the teams behind Thirteen Ascents and UBC Tropical Conservatory secured second and third place, respectively. The national contest challenges students to creatively utilize exposed structural steel in ambitious architectural frameworks. Under the guidance of professors Terri Meyer Boake and Cory Zurell, the winning Waterloo projects were recognized for their unique interplay of scale, light, and natural greenery.
Events
Paths to Practice
Paths to Practice is coming this fall 2026, hosted by the University of Waterloo’s School of Architecture and the Co-Operative Education Department. This event is an excellent opportunity for employers to network with students across both the Bachelor of Architectural Studies Program and the Master of Architecture Program, helping to expand co-op and hiring applicant pools, while also learning about recent research and successes coming out of the school.
Fall Open House 2026
Join us on Saturday, November 14, 2026, between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. to see what makes Waterloo Architecture one of North America's top architecture schools.