About Us - Silva Rithen Quinth Architects

Marina Silva

Principal Architect & Founder

Started sketching floor plans on napkins during family dinners when I was like, eight. My parents thought it was a phase - turns out they were wrong.

After spending way too many years in stuffy corporate firms where everything had to be "safe" and "conventional," I decided enough was enough. Founded this studio in 2008 with nothing but a laptop, a drafting table from Kijiji, and honestly? A bit of naive confidence.

I'm obsessed with how buildings can actually give back to their environment instead of just taking. Got my sustainable design certification in 2006, and it completely changed how I see our work. Every project's gotta answer one question: "How does this make the world a tiny bit better?"

When I'm not buried in blueprints, you'll find me cycling along the waterfront or hunting down the best espresso in Toronto (still searching, by the way).

David Rithen

Senior Partner, Urban Planning

Grew up in a tiny town where the biggest architectural debate was whether the new Tim Hortons should have a drive-thru. That's probably why I became fascinated with how cities actually function and grow.

Joined Marina back in 2011 after we kept running into each other at the same sustainability conferences. She'd always ask the questions I was thinking but too polite to say out loud. Figured we'd make a decent team.

My thing is looking at the bigger picture - not just individual buildings but how they fit into neighborhoods, traffic patterns, green spaces, all that interconnected stuff. I've learned that the best urban planning happens when you actually listen to the people who'll be living there, not just zone everything from an air-conditioned office.

These days I split time between our Toronto office and various city council meetings (yeah, they're as exciting as they sound). Also trying to convince my teenage daughter that architecture is cool - losing battle so far.

Sophie Quinth

Partner, Interior & Residential Design

I'm the youngest of the three, and yeah, I've heard all the jokes about being the "kid" of the group. Came on board in 2015 fresh out of grad school with a head full of ideas and honestly no clue about running a business.

What gets me excited is the human scale of things - how a room feels when you walk into it, where the light hits at 3pm on a Tuesday, why some spaces make you wanna stay forever and others feel wrong even if they look great in photos. That stuff matters more than people think.

I'm big on adaptive reuse - taking old buildings that everyone's written off and finding their new purpose. There's something special about preserving history while making it relevant for how we actually live now. Plus, it's way more sustainable than demolishing everything and starting from scratch.

Outside the office, I'm usually at vintage furniture auctions (my apartment's running out of space) or experimenting with terrible homemade pottery. Marina and David have banned me from bringing any more "finds" to the studio after the incident with the 1970s orange couch.

How We Actually Work

No corporate speak, just the real deal

We're Obsessed With Listening

Seriously, our first meetings are like 90% listening, 10% talking. You know your space and your needs way better than we ever could at the start. We're just here to translate that into something buildable that won't fall down.

Sustainability Isn't Optional

It's baked into everything we do from day one. Not because it's trendy or looks good on our website, but because designing buildings that harm the environment in 2024 is just... kinda irresponsible? We can do better, and we do.

Budgets Are Real

We've never understood architects who design dream projects with zero regard for what things actually cost. If you tell us your budget, we'll work within it - and we'll be honest if something's not gonna be feasible. No surprises, no awkward conversations halfway through construction.

Beauty Meets Function

A gorgeous building that doesn't work for actual humans is just an expensive sculpture. We want both - spaces that make you feel something but also make your daily life easier. It's a balance, and yeah, sometimes it takes a few iterations to get right.

Our Studio Space

Where the magic (and the occasional chaos) happens

We're based on Bay Street in Toronto, in a converted 1920s building that we got to renovate ourselves - which was basically like designing our dream workspace while also stress-testing all our theories about adaptive reuse.

The space has these huge windows (south-facing, naturally) and exposed brick that we couldn't bear to cover up. There's a pin-up wall that's constantly covered in sketches, material samples, and the occasional food delivery menu.

Our team's grown to about fifteen people now - mix of architects, designers, interns who keep us on our toes, and Carlos, our office dog who thinks he's the actual principal architect.

We do our best work when we're collaborating, so the studio's set up to encourage that - big shared tables, a model-making area that always smells like wood glue, and a coffee situation that's maybe a bit too elaborate for our own good.

Wanna Work Together?

Whether you've got a fully-formed vision or just a vague idea and a napkin sketch, we'd love to hear about it. First consultation's always a conversation, not a sales pitch.

Get In Touch