We are overjoyed with Stefan Novakovic’s Designlines article on PLANT‘s Sara Jackman Playground at the Dr. Eric Jackman Institute of Child Study’s Lab School. Thank you, Stefan, for your eloquent explanation of how “this innovative playground balances risk and reward.”
Mulock Park, PLANT‘s landmark, 16-acre community destination for culture, recreation, and reconnecting with nature, is now in construction in Newmarket, Ontario. This Town of Newmarket video shows how work progressed on the site – formerly a private estate – throughout 2024. Stay tuned for more Mulock updates as the park takes shape in 2025.
PLANT Architect Inc. is delighted to kick-start 2025 with three very well-deserved promotions. Lisa Dietrich, previously a Senior Associate, is now PLANT’s first-ever Principal. Architect Cleo Buster has been promoted from Associate to Senior Associate, and Landscape Architect Zeynep Benk is PLANT’s newest Associate.
A few words about each of these amazing people:
Lisa Dietrich joined PLANT’s team in 2008, after completing an architecture degree in her native Germany. She quickly distinguished herself as a creative designer who excels at managing complex projects through to successful completion. Her versatility is evident in her PLANT projects, which range from single-family home renovations to contract administration for the 13-acre Nathan Phillips Square Revitalization at Toronto City Hall. She is currently project managing the transformation of a heritage estate’s extant 16 acres into the Town of Newmarket’s Mulock Park, a community hub for culture, recreation, and connecting with nature. On this project Lisa’s responsibilities include managing the implementation of new buildings ranging from a conservatory to a skate pavilion, the adaptive reuse of the estate’s stables as an artist residency studio, and working with PLANT’s landscape architects on the integration of architecture with a wide spectrum of public realm landscapes and sustainable energy infrastructure. She brings resourcefulness, encyclopedic technical knowledge, and an invaluable sense of humour to every project she undertakes.
Raised near Boston, Cleo Buster completed a Bachelor of Arts degree at the University of Massachusetts and a Master of Architecture degree at the University of Toronto. She began her career at PLANT as a Project Manager and Intern Architect in 2013. An Architect with full OAA (Ontario Association of Architects) licensure since 2018, she became an Associate at PLANT in 2021. She has project managed PLANT commercial and institutional projects ranging from the Architectural Conservancy Ontario Heritage Award-winning Junction Craft Brewery to extensive renovations at St. Augustine’s Seminary of Toronto. Her current responsibilities include project managing the renewal of multiple Toronto Community Housing Corporation townhouse developments. She is part of the Town of Newmarket’s Mulock Park team, managing the design and implementation of several structures and the integration of custom artworks. Cleo is pursuing the Certified Passive House Designer (CPHD) designation and has now completed all courses. An architect who always strives to deliver exceptional, client-focused design – on time and on budget – she is also active in her community. Cleo is a founding member of Friends of Small’s Creek, a group working to protect and restore Toronto’s ravine system. The group received a 2022 Ontario Association of Landscape Architects (OALA) Award for Community Service to the Environment.
Zeynep Benk joined PLANT’s team in 2016, shortly after moving from her native Istanbul to Toronto. She arrived in Canada with a Master of Science in Landscape Architecture from Istanbul Technical University and more than a decade of professional experience on projects in several large Turkish cities. A full OALA member since 2021, Zeynep brings a keen interest in landscape art, a meticulous eye for detail, and a talent for harmoniously coordinating the work of complex, multidisciplinary teams to our practice. Early in her tenure at PLANT, she project-managed the landscape for The Commons, a new, LEED Gold facility designed by Moriyama Teshima Architects for the University of British Columbia Okanagan campus in Kelowna, BC. Zeynep was instrumental in developing the design for The Commons’ terraced rain garden; integrated with a cistern, this riverbed-inspired, naturalized garden retains all stormwater runoff on site. Zeynep recently completed the masterplan for three new City of Toronto parks and one park expansion in the Six Points district, which surrounds the new Etobicoke Civic Centre. She is now project managing two of those park spaces through to construction completion and is also PLANT’s project manager on the Billie Wilder Therapy Garden at University Health Network’s Bickle Centre. Designed by PLANT in collaboration with SpruceLab Inc., this garden will provide a rehabilitation centre’s patients and their families with green, accessible outdoor space and opportunities for community gardening in raised beds.
Congratulations and thank you from all of us at PLANT to Lisa, Cleo, and Zeynep!