Designer of the Year 2021 Finalist

I am honoured to be selected as a finalist in Western Living’s Designers Of The Year Award. 🙌🙌🙌
Thank you to all the judges to place Noble Architecture in such talented company with the best of the West 🎈

Noble architecture has been featured in the April 2021 issue of the Canadian Architect Magazine. The article, Developing Interests, features Architects who act as developers in Canada. Thank you Canadian Architect for including Noble architecture in such impressive company.

“Architects who work as developers—owning, financing, designing and sometimes even acting as the builder for projects—take calculated risks to deliver rewarding projects for their communities and themselves.” (Elsa Lam)

https://www.canadianarchitect.com/developing-interests/

“Shora Parvaresh, Noble Architecture, Vancouver, British Columbia

With their high real estate prices, cities like Vancouver and Toronto are tough places to get started with development projects. But while the financial risks are high, architect Shora Parvaresh felt a strong pull to pursue her own developments as a way of nudging up the city’s standards for housing quality.

“My theory is that quality really matters—and if you’re not in a position to get an architect to design your dream home, there’s not many options that have a lot of sparkle and joy in them,” says Parvaresh. “Is it possible to push the boundaries a little, and make something affordable, high-quality, well-designed, and with an element of delight?”

Three years ago, Parvaresh founded Noble Architecture amid pursuing a Masters degree in management, all while continuing her full-time job. (She says that her current employer, MA+HG, has been supportive of this work, and she sees principals Marianne Amodio and Harley Grusko as her mentors.) Parvaresh recently completed and resold her first project under Noble—a duplex replacing a single-family home.

While most Vancouver duplexes divide houses into square-shaped front and back units, Parvaresh instead wanted to explore a side-by-side typology that would give both homes a front entrance and allow equal use of the backyard. To offset the narrower plans, more akin to Vancouver townhouses, her units include a double-height void that creates a sense of openness throughout the floorplates.

In construction, she prioritized high quality materials, including raw natural wood shingles that will develop a silvery sheen over time, and a metal roof chosen for its longevity and ease of maintenance.

In Vancouver, most spec homes maximize the number of bedrooms and bathrooms, and add so-called luxury finishes like faux-marble tiles. “Those things are not on the top of my list, but high-quality spaces are,” says Parvaresh. “There’s things that sell in the city that become the norm, but they’re not necessarily making our lives better.”

An unexpected challenge that Parvaresh encountered in the development process was securing a commercial mortgage for the project, even though on paper, she met all the requirements. From her Masters’ research, she learned that women typically had more difficulty accessing financing than men—and this resonated with her experience. “It could be that it was my first project, or that I was trying a newish idea,” she says, reflecting that it’s impossible to know why her applications were rejected by several banks. Eventually, she was able to get approved for financing, but it wasn’t easy.

Parvaresh is hoping to ramp up to larger-scale development projects, although she is being careful to find the right investment partner to work with. Her ideal: a partner that shares her philosophy of contributing positively to the city, and producing a bottom line that doesn’t stop at profit alone. 

“The reason to do this is not because I am dying to take financial risks or that I am that entrepreneurial by nature,” says Parvaresh. “But because it is the right and necessary thing to encourage market change and better housing outcomes across the city and the country. My dream is to lift up the public expectation of developments.”

“We all know that a duplex in East Vancouver is not going to solve affordability and density issues in this city,” she says. “But it is a very small step towards the right direction. Two families on one lot is a tiny bit closer to a healthier, more appropriate density.”” ( Elsa Lam)

Designer of the Year 2020 Finalist

Thrilled to be selected as a finalist in Western Living Designer Of The Year Awards in the Arthur Erickson Memorial Award for an emerging architect category. Thank you Western Living and all the judges to place Noble Architecture in such talented company with the best of the West.

Grateful to be the “ ONE TO WATCH” by Western Living ( Jan/Feb 2020)

Noble Architecture is building something big, one mid-sized home at a time.

Noble Architecture’s Shora Parvaresh may specialize in developments, but the Vancouver-based architect takes a slightly smaller scale approach to building. “When I started Noble, I wanted to focus on multi-family [structures] and more affordable homes, which the city really needs,” she says. A self-described “micro-developer,” Parveresh aims to maximize density and accessibility, constructing and designing multi-dwelling units for primarily young, middle- income broods. She fills her airy, light-filled duplexes with humble materials like natural wood, concrete and stone. Her projects incorporate one-of-a-kind design elements (for instance, untreated cedar shingles that will develop a “soft silvery sheen” over time) and spaces that inspire a slower pace and contemplation, too. Think a cozy top-floor loft, an expected reading nook or a dedicated spot where one can sit down and play a record. For Parveresh, dollar signs aren’t the goal. (In fact, Noble is more of a passion project for the architect, who works full time at another local firm.) She wants to build “missing middle homes”—spaces that offer a middle ground between low-income housing and luxury properties—in Vancouver. “The scale of my work in every way—size, number of units, upfront capital—is very small compared to what I call capital-D development,” she says.