MARK ROBERT HILLMER

2928 Yonge Street, Suite 219Toronto, ONM4N 2K1T: 647.389.8151E: markroberthillmer@gmail.com

MARK ROBERT HILLMER

2928 Yonge Street, Suite 219Toronto, ON

M4N 2K1T: 647.389.8151

E: markroberthillmer@gmail.com

I have a keen interest in design at all scales, how it effects our lives and interactions with our

environments. Experience of the environment is central to my approach in all design challenges. I strive to create moments for people unique to each place, derived from that place’s identity. I believe this leads to successful design solutions that foster a sense of stewardship among those

who use, enjoy, and inhabit the place.

EducATION

Master’s of Landscape Architecture (M.L.A),university of British columbia, 2011

Bachelor of Environmental Studies (B.E.S.),urban Planning (Hon), urban design Specializationuniversity of Waterloo, 2008

EMPLOYMENT HISTORY

October 2014 - January 2015Landscape DesignerWayne Swadron ArchitectToronto, Ontario

december 2011 - October 2014Landscape PlannerDillon Consulting LimitedToronto, Ontario

May 3, 2010 - August 13, 2010Landscape Architect Student InternCrosby Hanna + AssociatesSaskatoon, Saskatchewan

August 27, 2010 - September 4, 2010; August 30, 2009 - September 5, 2009Teaching Assistant -Introductory WorkshopUniversity of British ColumbiaVancouver, British columbia

May 18, 2009 - July 24, 2009;June 12, 2008 - August 21, 2008; May 1, 2007 - August 31, 2007;May 8, 2006 - August 31, 2006Student Planning TechnicianCity of Kawartha LakesLindsay, Ontario

September 2008 -April 2009Research AssistantDesign Centre for SustainabilityVancouver, British columbia

January 7, 2008 - April 24, 2008Teaching Assistant - 2nd Year Urban Design StudioUniversity of WaterlooWaterloo, Ontario

VOLuNTEER HISTORY

Landscape Architecture Student Association (LASA)university of British columbia• Third-year class Representative, 2010/2011• Vice President Internal, 2009/2010• First-year class Representative, 2008/2009

School of Architecture + Landscape Architectureuniversity of British columbia• Shadow Mentor day Organizer, 2011

Planning Student Association (PSA)university of Waterloo• Fourth-year class Representative,

2007/2008, 2-3 hours per week, 24 weeks

Faculty of Environmental Studiesuniversity of Waterloo• Orientation Team Leader, September 2007• Orientation Leader, September 2006• Orientation Leader, September 2005

University of Waterloo• World Town Planning day design charette

Facilitator

All Canadian Martial Arts Academy• Karate Instructor

SKILLS

GRAPHIcS:• Adobe Photoshop• Adobe Illustrato• Adobe Indesign

cOMPuTER dRAFTING:• AutocAd• Vectorworks

3d MOdELLING + MAPPING:• Google Sketchup• 3dS Max• ArcGIS• Visual Nature Studio

OTHER SKILLS:• MSOfficeSuite• Landscape Visual

Impact Assessment• Report Writing

• Hand drawing

SHORT-TERM PROFESSIONAL GOALS

• Become a licensed Landscape Architect

SOME AccOMPLISHMENTS

• uLI Young Leaders urbanIdeas competition 2014 - Overall Vision Award Winner

• dillon Innovation Prize• BilingualCertificate(English+French)• dean’s List• Second degree Black Belt

INTERESTS

• Being Active• cooking/Baking• drawing• Entertaining Friends + Family• Gardening• Learning New Things• developing Positive Working Relationships

with colleagues• Travel• Interior design

PEOPLE

Wayne Swadron, Owner/Architect, Wayne Swadron Architect - Reference Letter included

Tina McMullen, Senior Landscape Architect, Wayne Swadron Architect - Reference Letter included

Eha Naylor, Practice Leader, Landscape Architecture + Environmental design Practice,Dillon Consulting Limited

Ian Dance, Partner, Landscape Architecture + Environmental design Practice, Dillon Consulting Limited

Kenneth Buck, BcSLA Mentor + coach

Daniel Roehr, ProfessorUniversity of British Columbia, School of Architecture + Landscape Architecture

WORK SAMPLES

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENcE:Inundation, Toronto, ON

Lake Wilcox Park, Phase 2, Richmond Hill, ONLake Wilcox Park, Phase 1, Richmond Hill, ON

dufferin Wind Farm, dufferin county, ON33rd Street Redesign, Saskatoon, SK

GRAduATE dESIGN PROJEcT:RE-Placing, Richmond, Bc

STudIO PROJEcTS:cypress Mountain Village Master Plan, West

Vancouver, BcSmoke + Mirrors: A Shakespeare Garden for

Stanley Park, Vancouver, BcRoots In Yaletown: An urban community Garden,

Vancouver, Bc

PROJEcT MANAGER: Mark Hillmer, Kiran chhibaLEAd dESIGN TEAM: Mark Hillmer, Kiran chhiba, Martina Braunstein, Jay LeasaREVIEWERS: Eha Naylor, Ian dance, Merrilees Willemse, Ann Joyner, Karla Kolli

uLI Young Leaders urban Ideas competition (Overall Vision Award Winner) to reconnect Toronto with it’s waterfront. Inundation seeks to reintroduce the lake to the city by “inundating” several large channels back to Front Street, the city’s historic shoreline.

Thegraphicaboveillustratestheinfluxofmajorstorm events in Toronto, resulting in increased flooding.ThisdatainformedtheconceptbehindInundation.

Image by Martina Braunstein.

INuNdATIONToronto, ON

Image by Kiran chhiba and Jay Leasa.Image by Kiran chhiba.

Image by Kiran chhiba.

Images by Martina Braunstein.

LAKE WILCOX PARK, PHASE 2

LAKE WILCOX PARK, PHASE 1

UNDER CONSTRUCTION

LAKE WILCOX

SUSTAINABLEPARKING LOT

PLAYGRONDSPLASH PAD

PARK BUILDING

LONGHOUSE

COTTAGETRELLIS

LOOKOUT

CONNECTIONTO COMMUNITY

CENTRE

EXISTINGKETTLE

LANDFORM

STORMWATERCHANNEL

PROJEcT MANAGER: Yuk-Woo LeeLEAd LANdScAPE ARcHITEcT: Ian danceOTHER TEAM MEMBERS: Alana Evers, Leighann Braine, Mark Hillmer, dJ Lee, dean Woolley, Kate Preston

PHASE 2: Splash Pad, Green Roof Park Building, Playground, Trails, and Sustainable Parking Lot and Stormwater conveyance channel (Tender Phase)

construction Estimate: $5.6 million

LAKE WILcOX PARK, PH. 2Richmond Hill, ON

Image by Leighann Braine.

Images courtesy of Vortex Aquatic Structures International Inc.

Forest themed accessible children’s playground. Features both junior and senior play areas.

Trellis shade structure, designed to reference the cottage development that previously existed on the site.

Image courtesy of Trumble Studios.

Feature art piece: designed to reference the important First Nation’s settlements that inhabited the site over a century ago. The form is an abstraction of a Huron Longhouse. Archaeologists have discovered evidence of a Longhouse settlement on the Lake Wilcox Park site, a rare archaeological discovery.

A “window to the lake” frames an important view of the lake from an elevated vantage point. There used to be a major boathouse and rental facility on the lake edge during the Lake’s recreation history in the 1950s. This panel provides a hint of what that view might have looked like.

This bridge traverses a major stormwater conveyance channel, as such, it has been themed with native aquatic plant images on it’s panels.

PROJEcT MANAGER: Yuk-Woo LeeLEAd LANdScAPE ARcHITEcT: Ian danceOTHER TEAM MEMBERS: Alana Evers, Leighann Braine, Mark Hillmer, Jason Biehn, derek Weckers, Kiran chhiba

PHASE 1: Waterfront Promenade and Elevated Boardwalk (Boardwalk to be constructed)

construction cost: $6 million

LAKE WILcOX PARK, PH. IRichmond Hill, ON

Image courtesy of Trumble Studios - Boardwalk to be constructed

Photograph taken by Alana Evers Turtle Sculpture by Steve Worthington

Wildlife Sculptures by Jeff Hammersmith

LAKE WILCOX

My contribution to the Lake Wilcox Park project came during the detailed design stage and construction drawings production stage. during detailed design, the Town initiated a thorough interpretivethemesexercisewhereweidentifiedimportant histories surrounding the site and used those to devise unique elements in the design. I was responsible to delivering many of these elements such as the cairn top medallions; several custom railings; the park banner; a weathered steel boat frame forming a framed view of the lake; and a detailed engraving strategy for stone and concrete surfaces consisting of animal tracks, quotes from historic figures,andsymbols.

during the construction drawing stage I was responsible for the development, coordination and delivery of the construction details.

Image by Kiran chhiba

Tree Sculpture by Robbin Wenzoski

Wildlife Sculpture by Jeff Hammersmith

Photograph taken by Yuk-Woo Lee.

PROJEcT MANAGER: don McKinnonLEAd LANdScAPE ARcHITEcT: Eha NaylorOTHER TEAM MEMBERS: Rebecca crump, Jay Leasa, Mark Hillmer

The dufferin Wind Power project is ongoing. However, I contributed by producing the majority of work towards satisfying the Niagara Escarpment commission (NEc) through a visual impact assessment for the project. This lead to successful buy-in from the NEc to move the project forward.

duFFERIN WINd FARMdufferin county, ON

PROJEcT MANAGER: Rob crosbyLEAd LANdScAPE ARcHITEcT: Rob crosby, Roger GreenOTHER TEAM MEMBERS: Mark Hillmer

This project provided options to the city of Saskatoon for repurposing a portion of the canadian Railway corridor to create a multi-use corridor linking the west end of the city to the South Saskatchewan River. My contribution to the project was to aide in the delivery of renderings to illustrate various options, ranging in cost, to the city.

33Rd STREET REdESIGNSaskatoon, SK

20.0 m

50.0 m

70.0 m

100.0 m

SOCIAL SPACE LIMIT

0.5 m2.0 m

5.0 m7.5 m

10.0 m

within 0.45 m within 1.2 m within 3.7 m greater than 3.7 m

PERSONAL SPACE BUBBLEindividuals are extremely sensitive to

objects penetrating this space(arm’s length)

INTIMACY ZONEIntimacy of interaction

dependent on level of overlap of eachperson’s personal space bubble

PROJEcT dEScRIPTION:Over the past several decades, the experiential quality, authenticity, and unique identities of our city environments have fallen victim to a value shift in society that celebrates and encouragesplaceless,yeteconomicallyefficient,development. Kunstler reinforces this point in his book, The Geography of Nowhere, when he states “all places in America suffered terribly from the way we chose to arrange things in our postwar world. cities, towns, and countryside were ravaged equally...and there is scant refuge from the disorders that ensued” (1993, 15). He continues: “To me, it is a landscape of scary places, the geography of nowhere, that has simply ceased to be a credible human habitat” (Kunstler 1993, 15).

As a result, our post-war urban and suburban environments do not support our basic needs: they do no facilitate the creation of meaningful man-environment bonds and man-man relationships; they do not provide opportunities for escape and restoration of mind and body; and, they do not allow one to truly occupy, interact, and manipulate their environments, a necessary component of one’s sense of belonging.

This project attempts to demonstrate how open space can provide a sense of order and foster a unique sense of place for our urban environments.

RE-PLAcINGRichmond, Bc

HuMAN SPATIAL STudIES:At the core of this project was an attempt to understand levels of interaction that exist person-to-person and person-to-environment. This interaction, its strength and what can be achieved at different distances is a key factor in designing places that resonate.

0 50 100 150 200 M

LANSdOWNESTATION

RAISEd PLAZA

PROPOSEd MAIN LIBRARY

BRANcH

B B1

0 50 100 150 200 M

A A1

cELEBRATION PLAZA

uRBAN GREENWAY

LANSdOWNESTATION

No. 3 Rd

LANSdOWNE Rd

LANSdOWNEPARK Rd

GREAT LAWN

PONd

RESTAuRANT

TREE cANOPY BORdER

cRABAPPLE HILL

ALdERBRIdGE Rd

PING PONG PAVILLION

MARKET

BIRcH-ALdER FOREST ISLANdS

PROPOSEd MAIN LIBRARY

BRANcH

TEAM MEMBERS: charlotte drache-Lambert, Julia Hill, Mark Hillmer, Sheena Soon

VISION: To create a mountain village that reveals the site’s logging history, celebrates artisanal craft, and promotes active lifestyles.

The athletes and artisans scheme for the new cypress Village development unites two, often considered contrasting, communities in auniqueandmutuallybeneficialrelationship.This relationship will see artisans and craftsmen manufacturing and repairing equipment and furniture for others; with athletes providing labour,holdingclassesorseminarsonfitnessand nutrition, and providing instruction for other athletes regardless of skill level.

In order to attract these communities to live in this village, a system of giving back to the community through the sharing of skills will be one way to reduce the cost of housing. Since the majority of the village will be developed as mixed use strata, it will be much easier to distribute the additional costs across a broad range of units. Resulting in a new demographic for West Vancouver, and a vibrant village.

cYPRESS MOuNTAIN VILLAGE MASTER PLANWest Vancouver, Bc

CONCEPT PLAN

The Artisan and Athlete Village

A village that unites artisans and athletes and celebrates the logging history of the site.

Just off the exit on Cypress Bowl Road there comes a wide switchback with a cleared vista of the ocean and opposite shore. This is where the Artisan and Athlete Village core is to be sited.

The title of the village is derived from the founding principles for the design:

Artisans: Terraced studio spaces equip with galleries, classrooms, and living quarters. Can accommodate a variety of artists from glassblowers, to wood carvers, to craftsman with families, to devoted painters. These spaces will be integrated within the framework of the main village core.

Athletes:The Upper Mountain Village will service skiers, bikers, and hikers who wish to come for summer or weekend visits. A funicular will connect this village to the main village allowing athletes to mingle, eat, and shop. The biking trail network will filter into the plaza furthest to the west where a variety of commercial and service units will invite bikers to stop for a snack and wander around.

Logging History:The logging history will be expressed in the architecture and layout of the spaces. Much of the space that is currently dis-rupted by construction projects will be replanted in an effort to partially restore the site.

BUBBLE DIAGRAM: CONCEPT PLAN

THE VIEW FROM CYPRESS VILLAGE

0 25 50 75 100 m

0 25 50 75 100 m

0 25 50 75 100 m

Main village plan

cENTRAL PLAZA - Logging history theme

Shakespeare was a master of understanding the human condition. He understood the great flawsofmanandhowmaniscapableofeventhedarkest of thoughts when pushed far enough. Shakespeare was an expert at expressing human emotion through his characters and in turn evoking emotional reactions in his audience. One common element nearly every one of Shakespeare’s plays contains is a notion of deception or mix-up. Shakespeare uses deception as a tool for advancing the plot andcreatingconflictinhisplays,butalsousesdeception to trick his audience into believing false information. Therefore, the design for the garden will be derived from an interpretation of deception/mix-up and human emotion in Shakespeare.

The design of the Smoke and Mirrors Garden takes visitors on an experiential journey of discovery into the genius of Shakespeare through an introduction to the plant lore found in the plays Much Ado About Nothing, King Lear and AMidsummer Night’s dream. The Smoke and Mirrors Garden design takes great care to only allow parts of the garden to be seen at once, enticing users to walk around and experience every aspect. The four emotional gardens accessory to the Shakespeare gardens will evoke emotional responses in visitors. The gardens have been designed to evoke gloomyness, happiness,calm,andreflection.Thisveryunique experience within the greater context of Stanley Park will prove to attract more visitors and respark the interest of past visitors. The Smoke and Mirrors Garden would be a great compliment to the rest of Stanley Park.

SMOKE + MIRRORS: A Shakespeare Garden for Stanley ParkVancouver, Bc

GARdEN cONcEPT PLAN

GLOOMY GARdEN VIEW

The design for Roots in Yaletown was inspired by the history and architecture of the area. Yaletown began as an industrial neighbourhood and had a strong rail presence. The architecture uses a variety of materials indicative of this time period. Exposed steel beams, glass, large wood timbers, and brick are among the most common. Roots in Yaletown mixes these materials in a contemporary way to give it a unique but appropriate identity for Yaletown. The design incorporatesraisedbedandfieldstyleplantingto highlight the various methods of agricultural production, while also serving an aesthetic role in creating a more visually interesting space with a variety of experiences as pedestrians traverse the site. Through site analysis it was determined that the majority of pedestrian activity is simply using the site as a transition zone, not staying to spend time. By introducing a variety of public open spaces —the entrance in the south corner, the market, and the raised boardwalk in the north-east— and structures the site will be transformed into a place for community building, meeting friends, and learning about our food system andhowourchoicesinfluencethatsystem,aswellasbeingaplaceforself-reflectionandquiet seclusion. There are areas for wildlife and pollenator attraction to help with pollentation and pest control in the garden, this will avoid the need for fertilizers and pesticides. The design uses a rich palette of materials arranged in a contemporary way which melds perfectly to the character of the surrounding neighbourhood.

ROOTS IN YALETOWN: An urban community GardenVancouver, Bc