ANO Architects/Architectes Inc. has been named Timmins Chamber of Commerce Member of the Month for October.  ANO – which stands for Architecture for Northern Ontario – has maintained a strong presence in this very region for a phenomenal 30 years.  October 2008 marks the architectural firm’s 30^th Anniversary in Timmins.

Since 1978, the ANO team has collaborated on the planning, design, and construction of more than 2,000 projects that form their diverse portfolio of educational, health care, recreational, tourism, residential, commercial, and institutional developments. True to their name, the organization has a broad reach throughout Northern Ontario; in 1993, ANO opened a second operation in Sudbury.  Between the two Timmins and Sudbury branches, the firm employs a full-time staff compliment of 20.  ANO prides itself in fostering a family-like culture among its employees.  According to President and General Manager Andy Cotnam, being part of a close-knit organization results in a strong corporate identity and team-like atmosphere among employees.   While recruiting staff in Northern Ontario has been a challenge for ANO, its warm corporate culture has proven to be successful when it comes to retaining employees.

According to Mr. Cotnam, ANO strives to listen to the needs and requirements of their clients.  Using staff expertise, creativity and imagination, ANO Architects develop unique, structurally sound and aesthetically pleasing designs.  According to Cotnam, “Our goal is to bring an architectural perspective to the needs of our clients, so that we are able to achieve a true bridging of meeting our clients functional needs while providing an innovative, quality end product.” 

Locally, ANO is well-known for its uniquely-designed and culturally relevant projects, including O’Gorman High School, the Timmins Public Library, Northern College’s student residence, just to name a few. Regionally some of their notable projects include College Boreal’s Sudbury campus and the Tim Horton’s Event Centre in Cochrane.  ANO has enjoyed their involvement in the design of numerous health-related facilities, including hospitals in Wawa, Marathon, Mattawa and community health centres in Englehart, New Liskeard, Geraldton and Iroquois Falls.

ANO prides itself on using locally-sourced materials whenever possible.  In particular, the firm is well-known for incorporating wood products into its designs.  “Supporting the Northern Ontario and local economy are important to us as an organization.  While at the moment, the forestry industry has seen better days, we try our best to support the industry whenever possible.  We also have an increasing focus on implementing green design principles and sustainable architecture in our projects,” stated Cotnam, “The environmental impact of new infrastructure will play an increasingly important role as we move into the future – it’s important to ANO that environmental effects are considered and mitigated through incorporating sustainable design principles.”  As for the future, Mr. Cotnam sees the organization continuing to increase its reach throughout Northern Ontario and serving the needs of a broader market by adapting and expanding its services to suit its prospective clients.  

In honour of the organization’s 30^th Anniversary, ANO Architects/Architectes Inc. invites all Chamber members to attend its Biz After 5 event on Wednesday, October 29^th.  Click here for more details.

For more information on ANO Architects/Architectes Inc. visit www.anoarchitects.com.