Designed as a working barn for a hobby farm, the Swallowfield Barn also serves as a community gathering space suitable for hosting ?concerts and weddings. Photo by Ema Peter
Former work colleagues and long-time friends Tracey Mactavish and Asher deGroot founded MOTIV Architects in 2017. The socially minded Vancouver-based firm is particularly interested in the design of utilitarian structures and landscapes?places often overlooked by designers but fundamental to the success of communities. For Mactavish and deGroot, architecture is not only about constructing buildings, but using them as tools for embodying appreciation: appreciation of people and community, appreciation of materials and the challenges of building, and appreciation of context and the land on which projects are situated. Designed as a working barn for a hobby farm, the Swallowfield Barn also serves as a community gathering space suitable for hosting ?concerts and weddings. Photo by Ema Peter
MOTIV takes a grassroots approach to empowering their clients and transforming communities. The pair notes how they?re often going beyond the traditional scope of architecture, acting as ?advocates, spokespeople and project managers? for causes they?re invested in. This orientation extends to their design process, in which community members are involved at every possible stage of a project, from pre-design to construction. Case in point: the Swallowfield Barn, which Mactavish and deGroot describe as a ?testament to the ...