Award-winning Toronto architect Thomas Payne and acoustician John O’Keefe will join us at the University of Saskatchewan on Wednesday, November 6 at 1:30 PM in the Kenderdine Art Gallery to explore how architecture and acoustic design can shape not just buildings, but community belonging. Together, they will share how revitalizing existing infrastructure through intentional design can activate the performing arts as a catalyst for social connection, economic growth, and civic pride.

This conversation will examine how a commitment to repurposing existing infrastructure can create true “third spaces” where people feel welcome to gather, create, and thrive. As we imagine the future of the Caswell Bus Barns redevelopment, Payne and O’Keefe will invite us to consider not just what a building can be, but who it can serve, and how thoughtful design and collaboration can support long-term community growth and cultural engagement. 

Thomas Payne was born in Chatham, Ontario. He was educated at Princeton University (AB, 1971), the École des Beaux Arts in Paris, and Yale University (M. Arch, 1974).

Thom was mentored by James Stirling at Yale School of Architecture and by Barton Myers at Barton Myers Associates (1979–1987), the predecessor firm to Kuwabara Payne McKenna Blumberg architects (KPMB), where Thom was a founding and senior partner for 25 years.

Thom has a depth of experience in a broad range of project types – culture, education, institution, hospitality, recreation, retail, commercial, residential – at every imaginable scale. He has developed a portfolio of internationally celebrated projects for the performing arts.

John O’Keefe has presented lectures on the topic of architectural acoustics throughout the world. He was an Adjunct Professor of Acoustics in the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Architecture and Landscape Design from 2001 to 2011. Since 2012, he has been lecturing at the Faculty of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering. He is also an annual guest lecturer at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute’s Faculty of Architecture. 

He has presented more than 40 papers on topics such as Stage Acoustics, the challenge of acoustics in large auditoria, the use of NURBs and curved geometry in architecture, as well as a number of his professional projects. In 2019 he was honoured to give the keynote plenary lecture to the Acoustic Society of India. He is currently in the final stages of his doctorate at Sorbonne Université, where he has also presented lectures to graduate and undergraduate students.

He is the winner of several awards including the Schreyer Award: his country's highest distinction for engineering of any kind. Mr. O'Keefe has been responsible for the acoustic design of some of his country's finest performing arts facilities and many venues beyond.