“Our first project together was the 70,000 square foot LEED Gold addition to our government administration centre in Midhurst, Ontario, effectively doubling the size of the existing building, along with extensive renovations to the original 1972 building. This $24M project was designed in 2009, constructed from January 2010 to May 2012, and completed on time and on budget; a great success!
Mr. Knight has also led numerous and extensive renovation and retrofit projects over the years at our Ontario Works Social Services offices and our Long Term Care facilities across the County of Simcoe, our head office in Midhurst, and recently led the design and construction of our new Orr Lake Transportation Garage facility. These projects combined are valued at well over $10M and have met our expected timelines and budget goals, with strong teamwork and excellent relationships being created along the way.
Mr. Knight and his team at THA have always demonstrated a high level of professionalism, reliability and commitment to our County projects, they understand our need to meet budget and schedule targets and our focus on staying ahead of the curve to avoid surprises. THA has completed several building condition and feasibility assessments for the County to assist with our property acquisition decision making process, and have been available and willing to assist on any issue that may arise day to day.
I would highly recommend Rob Knight and the team at Ted Handy and Associates Inc. as design architects, contract administrators, project managers and expert advisors on facility construction processes. They have been an invaluable resource to my team at the County of Simcoe over the past 10 years.”
-Dawn Hipwell., PMP, C. Mgr. County of Simcoe, Procurement, Fleet and Property Department.
“The book on Fallingwater will be enjoyed and reflected on for years. I often find myself staring through the windows of our home admiring the details, thoughtfulness to the setting and craftmanship. The home makes us feel secure, simplified and grounded.”
-Darick Battaglia
“Mr. Ted Handy and his colleagues have done an exemplary job of learning as much as possible about Barrie’s cultural community through their support of various groups, financially and with their time. The firm has also demonstrated a deep and well-rounded understanding of each group’s individual needs with respect to capital infrastructure. That makes them the ideal candidate of having the tools and the knowledge to unite the groups under a multi-use facility and take full advantage of the philosophy behind Building a Creative Future cultural plan.”
-Arkady Spivak of City of Barrie’s Department of Culture; regarding the Performing Arts Theatre
“We have very much appreciated the “Charette” that helped the Congregation to consider the possible changes to the facilities in order to live out our stated mission. The process that was followed no doubt helped us to raise the necessary funds in a very short period of time. The contract administration performed by you or your company was well looked after and clearly understood as to when payments etc were due. In summary, then, we are very satisfied with your design and can recommend your services to other potential customers”
-Harry Ragetlie of Harcourt Memorial United Church
“Ted Handy and his team have been incredibly adept during the entire process of our relocation. From early committee discussons, through church family ‘charettes’ and on to preliminary design drawings, they continually applied their creative skills to be inventice, to problem solve and to be responsive to our feedback. During the tendering process and construction phase, Ted and his team have secured our best interests, with integrity, to achieve a fantastic result.
In designing our facility, Ted and his team actually designed space which responded to our perceived needs, our anticipated needs and fulfilled most of our wishlist…all within budget. On a project of this size and scale, this is remarkable!
Ted and his firm did an outstanding job of guiding us through the design process and the construction of the building. We are thrilled with the building, and have been so blessed to partner with such quality and gifted people. It is with great enthusiasm that we recommend Ted Handy and Associates for an Architectural design project!”
-Pastor Buck Rick of Emmanuel Baptist Church
“Bright, day lit beauty and durable quality aside, the genius of what Ted and his team have done for us is this – he helped us conceive and construct a tool that truly fits all of us, and will flex with us as we thrive in it! From a functional standpoint, speaking as a Children’s Pastor and responsible for lots of programs, this…is heaven.”
-Pastor Steve Paul of Emmanuel Baptist Church
“Ted and his staff have been providing professional Architectural services to the Simcoe County District School Board for over 15 years. The largest project they have undertaken was the construction of Admiral Collingwood Elementary School which opened in 2001. This project was rather fraught with politics as it meant that the old Admiral Collingwood Public School would be closed and a new school built in another section of the town. Working closely with the Board and community Ted Handy was able to design a school around the Town’s marine heritage, pull in the architectural flair of the old building and bring the community back together to embrace what we like to think as the pride of our fleet. We enjoy working with Ted and his staff and look forward to continuing our relationship.”
-Brad Parkes of SCDSB
“EMMANUEL was launched in Orillia in 2015. Prior to launching, we were given a building that
didn’t meet certain code requirements. In order to move into the building and hold our services
we needed to do some extensive renovations to bring the building up to code. We had used Ted
Handy & Associates in the past for various projects, additions and a complete build at our Barrie
Campus with great success and satisfaction, so we knew we needed to go back to them with
our new Orillia project.
Ted Handy and Associates came onboard and handled our Orillia renovations with
professionalism and skill. They did a thorough job from start to finish. This gave us confidence
and allowed us to enjoy the process as the renovations took place. THA’s personnel met with our
leadership team to get to know our vision and desires, and used what they learned to create a
renovation that best suited our vision, our needs and even offered some timely advice and
suggestions. The finished renovation has exceeded our expectation and with their knowledge,
insights and creativity continues to prove to be better than we had ever hoped or imagined.
THA provided us with a design and a plan that fit within our budget. However, they exceeded our
expectation by giving us various options so that we can make informed and critical decisions. As
the project was completed we were within our expected budget.
We have enjoyed working with Ted Handy & Associates so much that we have already gone
back to them with a new project that should be completed this coming fall.
I would recommend THA to any company and Not-For-Profit Organization that is needing an
architectural firm.”
-Pastor Dave Whitelaw of Emmanuel Orillia
“It is with extreme pleasure that I am able to provide a letter reference for Ted Handy and Associates Inc. Camp Oochigeas is camp for kids affected by childhood cancer. Often referred to as the social cure for cancer, Camp Ooch has expanded programs year-round in Muskoka, at the Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids), Ooch Downtown and various other cancer centres across Ontario. In order to increase its capacity by 50% to meet the needs of children with cancer who are currently not accessing oncology camps, Camp Ooch is undergoing a multi-phase expansion of their campsite in Rosseau, Muskoka. Aggressive planning, monitoring and construction techniques were implemented to ensure the success during a winter that provided and abundance of snow. THA proved to be indispensable in developing the strategies and seeing them through. It is always a surprise to show up on site and see the result of our dream and realize it is exactly what we asked for. Their careful guidance through the design and construction of the process has resulted in one of a kind, site specific solution that meets the complex needs of our campers. The scope of work includes $20 million worth of construction for 6 buildings and associated site works. We are just completing the first of the two construction phases and look forward to completing the final touches before the summer of 2018.
Designing for immune compromised kids has with it a higher level of concern related to germ control, cleaning of surfaces and longevity. Any campers who get sick must leave so the health of others is not compromised. Careful strategies were analyzed not only for campers but also staff to ensure the best solutions to meet our objectives. Linked with this is the numerous levels of approvals, budget review and reporting, engaging user groups with conflicting values and a project that represents a significant undertaking. The THA team was asked to manage this portion as well as assist in numerous owner retained consultants to deliver an integrated solution and they did. Ted and his team have shown a
high level of commitment to this project and investment in our mission. They have done an outstanding job tackling aggressive design criteria and delivering a completed projection time, on a fast tracked schedule.
-Aimee Bruner of Camp Oochigeas
“It is with extreme pleasure that I am able to provide a letter reference for Ted Handy and Associates Inc.
With the planned retirement of our architect, with whom we had enjoyed a long standing relationship with, we found ourselves searching for an architectural firm to partner with to lead the design, construction and development of our most recent project, Royal Rose Place, a state of the art $18 million dollar long term care home providing care and services to 96 residents, in Welland, Ontario.
As an industry leader in the provision of seniors housing options, including retirement lifestyle communities and long term care homes, we pride ourselves on providing the residents whom we serve with well appointed communities that provide an age friendly environment, while naturally lending to the creation of a home like environment providing opportunities for resident engagement and social interaction, balanced with a design that promotes optimal work flow for our staff while meeting specific design standards and criteria of regulatory bodies, such as the Ministry of Health and Long Term Care. This is no small feat to accomplish from an architectural design perspective, but I can confidently state that Ted, together with his team exceeded our expectations, tackling aggressive design criteria and fully delivering a completed project on time, with equally aggressive construction schedules.
Professional, experienced and passionate, our needs and desires were heard and responded to accordingly within the design. Always patient, despite changes or requests which we introduced along the way, Ted and his team demonstrated their ability to flex and adapt to ensure our overall satisfaction on the project.
Ted prides his work and that of his team as a “collaborative process of developing creative solutions that are thoughtfully crafted to reflect each client’s unique vision.” Based on our experience, I can confidently state that is reflective of our experience working with Ted Handy and Associates Inc. Having said that, we are pleased to be working with Ted Handy and Associates Inc. on a number of redevelopment projects and new developments within our organization.”
-Julia King of Jarlette Health Services