Lara McKendrick has joined the Ontario Association of Architects (OAA) as its new president. The Ottawa-based architect brings 25 years of experience to the role, including as founder of Lara McKendrick Architecture Inc. (LMA), a firm specializing in adaptive reuse, custom residential projects, and deep energy retrofits.

“I am so excited for this opportunity to help lead our governing board of directors,” she says. “This is the final year of the OAA’s current Strategic Plan, which includes Climate Action and Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion as the two main lenses through which we view all the work we undertake. I was fortunate to be a Councillor when OAA Council and senior staff crafted this plan. As President, I will continue to pursue the worthy priorities and projects currently underway.”

Lara McKendrick

McKendrick’s work is guided by a first-principles approach to sustainability, creating healthy, flexible, durable, and beautiful spaces. Before establishing her own practice in 2011, she worked with several prominent Ottawa firms, honing her expertise in institutional, commercial, and residential architecture.

A graduate of Carleton University’s School of Architecture, her passion for architecture began at an early age. “I wanted to be an Architect even when I was five years old. At one point, I considered engineering, but architecture won out after I attended school in Europe,” she shares, adding that her motivation to run for OAA Council President stemmed from a desire to give back to her profession.

“I initially ran for Council because I was at a point in my career where I had more control of my time and saw it as a way to do some work for my profession,” McKendrick adds. “I’ve learned that the OAA is not some overlord in isolation. For Architects and Licensed Technologists, this is our profession and our regulator—it is up to us to get involved. We rely on volunteers.”

McKendrick has been an active member of the OAA Council since 2021. Over the years, she has held numerous roles on council, including senior vice president and treasurer, as well as being on the complaints, registration, and finance and audit committees, and chairing the building committee and the Continuing professional education committee (CPEC). She has also sat on the board for Pro-Demnity Insurance Co.