Gibbons Snow Architects Inc.

12/25/2025

Season’s greetings and warm holiday wishes from all of us at Gibbons Snow Architects. Featuring an illustration of our Water St. office, drawn by our highly skilled co-op student, Rebecca!

01/02/2025

Happy New Year from GSA! We’re excited to embrace 2025 with bold visions, innovative solutions, and lasting impact. Cheers to a bright and beautiful year ahead! 🥂

12/25/2024

Wishing you a warm and wonderful holiday season from all of us at Gibbons Snow Architects! A big thank you to our talented co-op student, Emily, for keeping us cozy with these amazing handmade toques! 🧶🎄❄️

01/01/2024

As we enter the new year, GSA is excited to embark on a journey of innovative designs and collaborative projects. Wishing everyone a Happy New Year filled with joy, creativity, and success! 🥂

10/05/2023

08/25/2023

Some late summer Newfoundland RDF couldn’t stop this team from successfully holding our 2nd annual GSA Golf Tour!

08/24/2023

We are currently seeking a Senior Architect to join our growing team. At GSA, we maintain an engaging and highly collaborative office culture and our people are very “hands-on” in all aspects of project design and delivery. Most of our projects are focused on institutional design in sectors including health care, education, public safety, community, and government office buildings.

Please forward your resume to: [email protected]

08/23/2023

PROJECT HIGHLIGHT: The new Chemotherapy Suite redevelopment at the Dr. H. Bliss Murphy Cancer Centre (DHBMCC) in St. John’s, NL was an initiative by the Cancer Care Foundation of NL in response to the increasing cancer rates in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador.

Given the panoramic views and abundance of natural light provided by a continuous band of glazing surrounding three sides of the available space, the design maintains positive views to the exterior from all patient treatment areas and regularly occupied staff work zones. The 950 SM area is structured around a public-to-private layout, centralizing the satellite pharmacy and secure workspaces. At the same time, patient treatment spaces are arranged openly around this core, maximizing light and views. Patient privacy and staff visibility are ensured using partial walls, translucent screens, and glazing. Point of Care workstations are distributed throughout, aiding patient care, while primary nursing stations at opposite corners enhance patient visibility and care team collaboration. The surrounding corridor with dual access points streamlines staff movement and aligns with LEAN healthcare principles.

In addition to the non-traditional organization of space and the innovative approach to healthcare architectural treatments and finishes, the design team also helped the health authority develop a new design guideline for ergonomics and materials selection intended to enforce a higher standard of quality in building performance and image, for all future developments throughout the DHBMCC and the Health Sciences Centre at large.

03/31/2023

As of February 2023, the New Central Health Long Term Care Facilities at Gander and Grand Falls-Windsor became LEED-certified projects, achieving LEED® Silver and LEED® Gold, respectively.

The project includes the design, construction, finance, and maintenance of a new 60-bed long term care facility located in Gander, and a new 60-bed long term care facility located in Grand Falls-Windsor. The facility in Gander was designed with the potential for future expansion of approximately 105 additional beds.

The P3 Partnering Firm of NL Healthcare Partners with architectural design consultants Architecture49, G architects, and Gibbons Snow Architects, collaborated on the delivery of two facilities, similar in size and program, however each distinct in design articulation and context, paying great attention to the resident, staff, and family needs and the desire for home-like environments. The 3-storey building at Gander was sited to complement the campus-feel of the local college and Elementary School, while the facility at Grand Falls-Windsor was sited in a valley to respect the local context and low-lying neighbouring residential area.

The program includes 15 bed home areas, private rooms with ensuite, neighbourhood living/dining, multipurpose room, celebration room, physiotherapy suite, hair salon, and physician clinic space.

Photos courtesy of Pomerleau.

The LEED® certification trademark is licensed in Canada to the Canada Green Building Council® and is used with permission.

03/17/2023

PROJECT HIGHLIGHT: The contract for the construction of the Miawpukek First Nation (MFN) Emergency Services Building was recently awarded!

This new fire hall will offer services at the level of a modern fire services facility and serve the community for the foreseeable future. The building features durable finishes, energy efficiency measures to help keep operating costs at optimal levels, and a design that meets post-disaster criteria of the National Building Code of Canada.

Efficiency in the floor plan design creates a layout that incorporates space important to the Fire Chief and firefighters. Excessive circulation space was reduced by introducing a central Day Room: an addition which also allowed the Office, Training Room, Comms Room, and Vestibule to open onto a lobby area featuring a kitchenette and casual seating.

Recognition of cultural aspects of the MFN community was a guiding principle during the design process. Various critical design moves were made to reinforce this connection, including incorporating wood into the building structure and envelope, designing an exterior column to simulate the pole supports of a traditional Mi’kmaq wigwam, and incorporating the medicine wheel into the floor tile pattern within the Day Room.

03/03/2023

PROJECT HIGHLIGHT: The new redevelopment of the Adult Emergency Department (ED) at the Health Sciences Centre was recently awarded!

Currently undersized, the existing ED is to be improved through a 5,677 GSM (61,107 GSF) renovation and building expansion with a total of 54 new private patient care rooms and additional results pending areas. The scope of redevelopment will include provisions for a modern ED, organized around a central “Patient Access / Pivot” area that allows the distribution of walk-in patients to the appropriate care zones including Care Initiation, Psychiatric Assessment, High Acuity / Trauma, and Universal Care. The redevelopment also includes a new enclosed ambulance garage providing protected, secure, and unobstructed access for ambulance patient transfers.

Adjacency and flow between zones with the introduction of a Main Street Corridor create an operating environment that promotes the efficient and effective delivery of emergency care services, helping to ensure positive patient outcomes. The separation of care zones connected only by this common corridor also promotes improved infection control within the ED with the ability to isolate zones in the case of epidemic events.