About Us - Blight Venom Architecture | Dark Contemporary Design

Who We Really Are

Look, we're not your typical architecture firm with pristine white offices and minimalist everything. We got our start in Vancouver's Granville corridor back in 2012, working out of what used to be a mechanic's shop. That gritty, raw aesthetic? It stuck with us.

We've spent the last decade turning forgotten warehouses, abandoned factories, and overlooked urban spaces into something that actually matters. It's not about slapping some exposed brick and calling it industrial - it's about respecting what was there before while creating something genuinely livable for what comes next.

Our approach? We dig into the history of a space. Every rust stain tells a story, every cracked concrete floor has character that some cookie-cutter approach would just bulldoze over. We've learned that the best designs happen when you work WITH the decay, not against it.

Our Philosophy

"We don't believe in erasing the past to make room for the future. Every building has lived a life before we touch it - whether it's a century-old heritage site or a 1970s industrial complex. Our job isn't to whitewash that history but to weave it into something that works for today. The cracks, the wear, the patina of time - these aren't flaws. They're the foundation."

The Team Behind the Work

Marcus Reid

Principal Architect

Started in restoration work before realizing new builds could learn from old bones. 18 years wrestling with concrete and steel.

Sienna Chow

Lead Designer

Trained in sustainable design, obsessed with adaptive reuse. She's the one who finds beauty in rust patterns and water damage.

Dmitri Volkov

Structural Engineer

The guy who figures out how to keep 100-year-old brick standing while we carve out modern spaces. Makes the impossible work.

Alex Fontaine

Urban Planning Director

Spent years fighting city hall for heritage designations. Now works with municipalities to reimagine whole districts, not just buildings.

How We Actually Work

First off, we don't do cookie-cutter. Every project starts with us wandering the site - sometimes for hours - just soaking in what's already there. We take photos of everything: the way light hits a crumbling wall at 3pm, the texture of decades-old concrete, structural elements that most firms would rip out without a second thought.

Then comes the real work - figuring out how to honor that existing character while making the space actually functional for modern life. Sometimes that means exposing original steel beams. Other times it's about contrasting raw industrial elements with clean contemporary interventions.

We collaborate closely with our clients throughout - this isn't us dictating from on high. You're gonna live or work in this space, so your input matters. But yeah, we'll push back if you want to do something that compromises the integrity of what we're building.

Why Vancouver?

This city's got layers, man. You've got heritage buildings from the early 1900s sitting next to brutalist concrete from the 60s and 70s, all mixed in with modern glass towers. It's a playground for what we do. The industrial areas along the waterfront, the old warehouses in Railtown, the heritage districts in Gastown - there's so much potential here that other cities have already demolished.

Plus, Vancouver gets it. There's a growing appreciation for preserving our industrial past while moving forward. We've worked with city planners who actually understand that you don't need to erase history to build the future. That kind of progressive thinking? It's why we planted our roots here on Granville Street and haven't looked back.

Ready to Start Something?

Whether you've got a derelict warehouse or a heritage building that needs new life, let's talk about what's possible.

Get In Touch