Bing Thom Architects renamed as Revery Architecture, abandoning late founder's name

Artistic rendering of The Butterfly - the redevelopment at First Baptist Church in downtown Vancouver. (Revery Architecture / Westbank)

One of Vancouver’s most renowned architectural firms has rebranded itself with a new name following the sudden death of its namesake founder.

Bing Thom Architects recently officially renamed itself as Revery Architecture, marking a departure from its identity over its 35-year history.

“With the passing of our firm’s founder Bing Thom in 2016, the past year has been one of necessary evolution and transformation at the firm,” reads the statement.

“The new name, Revery Architecture, reflects the firm’s enduring vision to strive for exceptional design, whilst paying homage to Bing who instilled in us all the courage to dream big.”

Bing Thom. (Jason V / Flickr)

Some of the firm’s local designs include Aberdeen Square, Guildford Aquatic Centre, Surrey City Centre Public Library, Surrey’s Central City, Vancouver’s Sunset Community Centre, and the UBC Chan Centre for the Performing Arts.

It is also behind a number of high-profile international projects such as the Xiqu Centre Opera House, which will open this year on Hong Kong’s waterfront in the West Kowloon District. Other major global projects include the University of Chicago Centre in Hong Kong, the Binhai Cultural District of Tianjin, and the Arena Stage Theater in Washington DC.

Artistic rendering of the Xiqu Centre Opera House in Hong Kong. (Revery Architecture)

Revery Architecture’s upcoming projects include Westbank’s The Butterfly building in downtown Vancouver, SFU’s Sustainable Energy & Environmental Engineering building next to Central City, and the proposed redevelopment of the Safeway site next to Commercial-Broadway Station.

An artist’s rendering of a new $126-million Energy Systems and Engineering building for SFU’s Surrey campus. (SFU)

Artistic rendering of the Safeway redevelopment at Commercial-Broadway Station. (Revery Architecture / Westbank Projects / Crombie REIT)

The firm further explained: “As he (Thom) would have wished, it is now time to look forward and create anew because, as he had often said: ‘The best is yet to come.'”

Thom, who was born in Hong Kong and immigrated to Canada when he was just a child, passed away in October 2016 at the age of 75 from a brain aneurism.

The firm has offices in both Vancouver and Hong Kong.

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