T3 - The Design Dividend

Design isn't the markup on built projects. It's the multiplier.

For too long, urban design has been treated as a cost center: the line item cut when budgets tighten, the first thing sacrificed in the name of "getting units built." This panel flips that logic. Our panelists explore the true ROI of leading with design, making the case that high-quality urban design isn't an added expense to affordable housing delivery or municipal budgets, but the mechanism that makes them perform - financially, socially, and over time.

The conversation digs into how financial frameworks can be reshaped to recognize what design actually returns: higher occupancy, lower long-term maintenance, stronger community buy-in, faster approvals, greater asset value. And it's grounded in the real, drawing on case studies of realized projects that prove design and financial return aren't a trade-off. They're the same outcome.

Good design isn't what you pay for after the numbers work. It's what makes the numbers work.

Speakers

Moderator: Chris Hardwicke
BArch, BES, MCIP, RPP, MRAIC
Director, Urban Design, City of Toronto
Chairperson, Council for Canadian Urbanism

Chris Hardwicke is Director of Urban Design at the City of Toronto, where he leads urban design for Canada's largest city. A Registered Professional Planner and member of the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada, he brings 25 years of experience shaping cities across Canada and internationally. Before joining the City, he was a principal at Agent Urban and at O2 Planning & Design, directing more than 100 public-sector projects — among them Building LeBreton Flats in Ottawa, a 29-hectare transit-oriented district now under construction as the largest carbon-neutral housing project in Canada; the Halifax Centre Plan; and the Toronto Parkland Strategy. His work has earned over 20 professional awards, including a Fast Company World Changing Ideas Award, and pioneered the use of big data and artificial intelligence in public space analysis. Chris has served on the Calgary Planning Commission, co-chaired the Calgary Urban Design Review Panel, and is the chair of the Council for Canadian Urbanism. He has taught at the Universities of Toronto, Waterloo, and Calgary, and has spoken on healthy, low-carbon cities in Copenhagen, Helsinki, New York, and New Delhi.

Marcia Wallace
PhD, MCIP, RPP
General Manager of Planning, Development and Building Services, City of Ottawa

Marcia Wallace is the General Manager of Planning, Development and Building Services with the City of Ottawa. Her portfolio supports Ottawa’s growth and city-building priorities across transportation planning, heritage, urban design, land use planning, building code services, permits, and approvals. Drawing on extensive leadership experience at the provincial and municipal levels, she is driving innovation and continuous improvement in development processes within the complex and evolving context of housing construction and land economics.

Marcia has significant expertise in developing and implementing regulations, policies, and programs related to infrastructure, the environment, energy, and land use planning. Before joining the City of Ottawa, she served as Chief Administrative Officer for Prince Edward County. She also spent more than 20 years with the Province of Ontario, including as Assistant Deputy Minister with the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing.

Marcia holds a Ph.D. in Urban Planning from the University of Waterloo. She is a Registered Professional Planner (RPP) with the Ontario Professional Planners Institute (OPPI) and a member of the Canadian Institute of Planners (CIP).

Janet Rosenberg
FCSLA, AALA, AAPQ, APALA, BCSLA, SALA, OALA, FASLA
Founding Partner, Landscape Architect, Janet Rosenberg & Studio Inc. (JRS)

Janet Rosenberg is the Founding Partner of Janet Rosenberg & Studio (JRS) and has more than four decades of experience in landscape architecture and urban design. Her work has contributed to the evolution of Canada’s public realm and encompasses award-winning public, institutional, cultural and private landscapes across the country, including Kìwekì Point in Ottawa. Throughout her career, Janet has championed the role of landscape architecture in city-building, creating enduring landscapes that strengthen connections between people, communities, and the natural and built environments. In 2024, she received the Canadian Society of Landscape Architects’ Lifetime Achievement Award.

Scott Pickles
AAA Architect, MBA, FRAIC, LEED AP
Managing Director, Urban Equation

Scott Pickles is Managing Director of Urban Equation, the sustainability and real estate advisory arm of Windmill Development Group. A registered architect, Green MBA, Fellow of the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada and LEED Accredited Professional, Scott brings 20+ years of experience at the intersection of design, development, investment and public-sector decision-making.

His career has spanned practice as an architect, real estate developer, municipal capital leader and national consulting executive. This includes serving as Development Manager for Windmill’s Vento, North America’s first LEED Platinum multifamily residential project. These roles have given Scott an understanding of how design decisions influence project feasibility, approvals, operating performance, market appeal and long-term asset value.

At Urban Equation, Scott advises public, private and not-for-profit clients on sustainable real estate investment, redevelopment strategy, development feasibility, climate resilience and high-performance buildings. His work focuses on translating environmental and social ambitions into defensible investment and development decisions, clarifying what better design costs, what it returns and how it can be delivered within financial and operational constraints.

Scott helps clients align vision, design quality, financial performance and community priorities. His perspective is grounded in a conviction: good design is not an added cost, but a means of creating enduring value.